Beijing ¨C China¡¯s equivalent of Netflix, iQIYI, faced backlash on Monday over a new initiative that facilitates the use of actors¡¯ likenesses in artificially generated dramas and films.
More than 100 celebrities have joined a platform to connect with makers of AI-generated content interested in using their image, a senior executive told a conference in Beijing.
China¡¯s entertainment industry has rapidly embraced the use of artificial intelligence, with AI-generated films and shows a common feature on video platforms.
A slate of Chinese actors took to social media to declare they had not or would not sign up to the ¡°artist database,¡°?with fans decrying iQIYI¡¯s apparent move to reduce work for human actors.
The streaming site called the backlash a ¡°misunderstanding¡± and insisted actors would retain control over how their image was used in AI-generated content.
¡°We are not currently licensing the likeness of actors,¡± iQIYI Senior Vice President Liu Wenfeng said.
¡°Rather, we are enabling AI creators and actors to more quickly establish connections through Nadou Pro,¡± he said, referring to the company¡¯s new AI tool targeted at filmmakers.
Users can input prompts into Nadou Pro to generate short films and use it for editing, according to a live demonstration on Monday.
¡°There¡¯s a misunderstanding here,¡± Liu said. ¡°What kind of drama, which shot ¡ª everything needs to be confirmed by the actor.¡±
Fans were also angered by comments made by iQIYI chief executive Gong Yu suggesting fully human-made work could become ¡°intangible cultural heritage¡± ¡ª a phrase used in Chinese to describe a relic of the past worth preserving.
The phrase ¡°iQIYI went nuts¡± was the most-discussed topic on social media platform Weibo by mid-day.
¡°If actors all turn into AI, what warmth will these works of literature and art have?¡± read one post.
Experts warn there are risks involved in allowing AI to use a person¡¯s image.
¡°Once an artist¡¯s image data is used for training platform models, there are technical risks such as model fine-tuning, data leakage and unauthorized secondary training, which are difficult to eliminate,¡± Li Zhenwu, a lawyer from Shanghai Star Law Firm, said.
¡°This means that an artist¡¯s digital assets may be reused ... completely outside of their control,¡± Li added.
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