Greetings from Las Vegas, where CES is in full swing with hundreds of new product announcements. One immediately got my attention: SAG-AFTRA announced an agreement with AI voice acting platform Replica Studios. This deal allows union members to license their voices for use in video games, marking an industry first.
The agreement ensures that voice actors can safely explore opportunities with their digital voice replicas, and it follows SAG-AFTRA's previous AI protections, requiring studios to pay and obtain consent from actors for AI-generated likenesses.
Key aspects of the deal include minimum rates, secure storage, transparency, and limitations on usage without further payment and consent. However, it does not cover the use of voice replicas in training large language models, an area Replica Studios is interested in exploring.
AI is "the" topic of CES 2024. There are few conversations that don't include it. What's surprising is that we are not hearing more about "behind the scenes" progress.
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P.S. Check out my conversations with Linda Yaccarino and Jay Altschuler at @shellypalmer on X.
ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
