Scarlett Johansson Is Right: Tech Platforms Shouldn’t Profit From Her Likeness In Unauthorized AI – Guest Column

Editors note: Dan Neely is a serial entrepreneur who was recently named to the Time 100 list of the most influential people in AI. He is CEO of Vermillio, a company that uses AI tools to identify and eliminate unauthorized content for clients that include public figures, performers, creators and IP owners. He advocates for greater IP protection and monetization standards around AI.

Scarlett Johansson has stepped up once again with a strong statement on unauthorized AI. This time, she called out the use of her likeness in an AI-generated video addressing Kanye West’s latest hate speech.

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She’s right: It’s not only about the message itself or the misuse of her own image but an unchecked technology rapidly reshaping our reality, with little to no guardrails in place. Time is of the essence to get national AI policies right and establish industrywide standards. Leading talent, like Johansson, have important voices and critical leverage to counterbalance the influence of the biggest tech platforms.

Social media platforms are profit-driven ventures designed to maximize engagement. This means algorithms prioritize virality over veracity. The most interesting content is often about the most interesting people, which includes the world’s most famous celebrities. AI-generated content featuring talent – whether it’s deepfake videos, fabricated audio, or AI-written misinformation – can spread like wildfire, good or bad. This particular video was all over the internet – Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and more. There were no mechanisms at the platforms in place to stop it from spreading. While the platforms each theoretically have the ability to act, history tells us they won’t unless compelled to do so. We can’t expect them to police themselves.

From IP rights to fair compensation, the entertainment industry has long fought to protect talent from exploitation at the hands of tech platforms. They’ve generally reacted, rather than led. In the new era of AI, these battles take on an entirely new urgency. Unauthorized AI-generated content isn’t just an inconvenience – it’s an existential threat to personal identity, professional livelihoods (of both talent and IP holders), and even democratic institutions. History has shown that platforms will leverage the world’s leading talent and most beloved IP without sharing a fair piece of the growing pie. If we don’t act now, we risk ceding control of reality itself to technology that can fabricate and spread convincing falsehoods at scale.

As the CEO of an AI licensing and protection platform, of course I believe that this remarkable technology isn’t inherently bad. With proper guardrails, AI regulated by AI offers a powerful tool to talent and creators. Instead of having it used without her consent, what if Scarlett Johansson wanted to license her voice for an educational tool for children or for a cause of her choice? Consider a podcaster who wants to license their AI-generated likeness to create promotional material for lucrative compensation that fuels their creativity. These are positive applications of AI that could empower talent, rather than exploit them. But this only works if real technology guardrails, industrywide standards, and the proper legislation are all in place.

The leverage of leading talent, like Johansson, is critical. Regulation cannot be left to the discretion of tech CEOs, whose incentives are not always aligned with Hollywood or the general public’s. Hollywood, Washington and the tech industry are all circling AI. Hollywood’s leading voices need to fight for a spot at the table when it comes to passing legislation that regulates the spread of AI-generated content. All parties need to come together to establish clear and enforceable guardrails. That means legislation ensuring consent in AI-generated likeness and voice replication, meaningful data protections, and regulated platform accountability for the spread of unauthorized content.

The recent decision in the Thomson Reuters case shows that courts are beginning to take AI-related copyright issues seriously. Talent must leverage this momentum to ensure their voices are heard and shaping these decisions. If talent doesn’t step up, tech platforms will dominate the conversation, and history has shown that when that happens, creators and the public more broadly get left with the smallest piece of the pie.

Johansson’s voice carries weight, but she shouldn’t have to fight this battle alone. More people – especially the most recognizable faces who are driving so much of the most viral content – need to speak up. The technology exists to monitor and enforce regulations on the biggest platforms, so let’s require the platforms to use them. The time to act is now – before tech platforms drown out the voices of talent and we collectively lose our ability to distinguish fact from fiction.

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