Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine license likenesses as generative AI debate deepens

Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have signed a deal with artificial intelligence company ElevenLabs, becoming the latest stars to license their voices for digital entertainment.

Founded in 2022, the artificial intelligence startup allows brands to license the voices of celebrities and historical figures for use in content and advertising. McConaughey, who has been an investor since 2022, shared a statement that he would allow the company to translate his Lyrics of Livin' newsletter into Spanish using his voice.

Meanwhile, Kane licensed his voice through the company's Iconic Marketplace and for use in the text-to-audio app ElevenReader.

“This is not about replacing votes; it's about empowering them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere,” Kane was quoted as saying. “I've been telling stories my whole life. ElevenLabs will help the next generation tell their stories.”

The company already offers a number of other synthetic performers, either collaborating with live actors or reproducing their voices using historical and archival audio recordings. Some of these voices include Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel, Maya Angelou, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison and J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The platform bills itself as “the artist-centric approach the entertainment industry is calling for,” with an emphasis on “respect, consent and creative authenticity.” This comes alongside a split in the entertainment industry between people decrying the incursion of generative artificial intelligence tools and the studios and companies that use them.

More and more big names are capitulating to technology, which is characterized as an inevitable force of change. Since OpenAI released its text-to-video AI model Sora 2 in October—along with its AI Video Sora app—there have been a flurry of complaints about misinformation and privacy concerns on everything from celebrity deepfakes to induced “AI psychosis.”

While consumer advocacy group Public Citizen sent an open letter to OpenAI By complaining about privacy violations and undermining public trust in online content, the company was largely responding to concerns from celebrities and Hollywood.

Unions and studios

The current union has previously expressed wariness about the possibility that generative artificial intelligence is undermining the ability of performers to find work in the industry.

After signing a contract Recognizing the “importance of human agency in film,” which asked studios and the union to act in “good faith” with each other in negotiations, they were joined by other actors' unions around the world in protesting the creation “synth performer” Tilly Norwood.

“SAG-AFTRA believes that creativity is, and should remain, people-centered,” they said. in the statement. “The union opposes the replacement of human workers with synthetics.”

But that hasn't stopped entertainment giants from continuing to invest in AI. Netflix says it's ready on using generative AI tools to improve recommendations, business advertising, and in films and television programs.

And Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kinkle recently told analysts that AI should be used as a powerful and useful tool for the music industrydespite AI-generated music and musicians driving down their current sales.

This is despite the fact that performers who agreed to work with artificial intelligence companies expressed doubts about the results. Conversation with the New York Timesactor Scott Jacqumain said that after selling his image on TikTok, he found himself selling everything from insurance quotes to a puzzle app – for nothing he has received compensation for since.

While this was all consistent with the terms of the agreement he had signed, he reiterated the regrets and concerns previously expressed by numerous Actors who entered into such deals are “horrified”.

Although these actors were often paid relatively small fees, they could find themselves in irrevocable, unspecified deals in which their images were seen as part of multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns promoting everything from unsavory products. endorse propaganda and military coups.

“AI is here to stay”

Often the argument for using generative AI in the entertainment industry is the same: its benefits are too great, and it's not going anywhere. Last month Mad Max director George Miller defended his decision to take part in the AI ​​Film Festivalstating, “AI is perhaps the fastest growing tool in moving image creation… AI is here to stay and change things.”

And after independent games columnist Rick Lane criticized video game Arc Raidercharacterizing AI-generated dialogue as “a black mark on its reputation,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney responded. In a series of posts on Xhe argued that technological innovation leads to better games, which leads to increased job opportunities.

At the same time, there are still skeptics and opponents. According to Wired, Forbes, Guardian What's more, the first warning signs of an investment bubble have begun to emerge when it comes to AI – a bubble that could burst, wiping out hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.

And other famous artists have spoken out about their outright hatred of content based on generative AI. Studio Ghibli head Hayao Miyazaki once called the project generative artificial intelligence “an insult to life itself” and the famous director Werner Herzog called A.I. “enemy” of humanity.

AND conversation with NPR, Frankenstein Director Guillermo del Toro has said that he has absolutely no interest in experimenting with generative artificial intelligence in his films. “I’d rather die,” he said.