OpenAI stops 'disrespectful' Martin Luther King Jr Sora videos

Liv McMahonTechnology reporter

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Black and white photograph of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He stands on a podium, surrounded by microphones, and speaks while looking to the right of the stage.

OpenAI stopped its artificial intelligence (AI) app Sora creates deepfake videos of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the request of his estate.

The company admitted that the video generator created “disrespectful” content about the civil rights activist.

Sora has went viral in the US due to his ability to create hyper-realistic videos, which has led to people sharing fake scenes of deceased celebrities and historical figures in bizarre and often offensive scenarios.

OpenAI said it was pausing images of Dr. King “because it strengthens protections for historical figures” but continues to allow people to make clips of other high-profile figures.

The approach has proven controversial as videos featuring figures such as President John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II and Professor Stephen Hawking have circulated widely online.

This brought Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin Williams, to ask people to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her father.famous American actor and comedian who died in 2014.

Bernice A. King, daughter of the late Dr. King, later issued a similar public statement: write online: “I agree about my father. Please stop.”

Among the AI-generated videos of the civil rights activist were some that edited his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech in various ways. Washington Post reporting one clip showed him making racist noises.

Meanwhile, others posted on the Sora app and social media showed figures resembling Dr. King and fellow civil rights activist Malcolm X fighting each other.

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AI ethicist and author Olivia Gambelin told BBC OpenAI that restricting further use of Dr King's image was a “good step forward”.

But she said the company should have taken action from the start rather than adopting a trial-and-error approach to introducing such technology.

She said the ability to create deepfakes of deceased historical figures not only shows “disrespect” for them, but also creates an additional danger for people's understanding of real and fake content.

“It's too closely tied to trying to rewrite aspects of history,” she said.

“Interests of freedom of speech”

The rise of deepfakes—videos that have been altered using artificial intelligence tools or other technology to show someone speaking or behaving differently from them—has raised concerns that they could be used to spread misinformation, discrimination or abuse.

OpenAI said Friday that while it believes there is a “strong interest in free speech in the depiction of historical figures,” they and their families should have control over their images.

“Authorized representatives or property owners may request that their images not be used in Sora cameos,” the post reads.

So-called “cameos” on the platform allow real people to consent to the use of their face or likeness in future AI videos on Sora.

OpenAI told the BBC in a statement in early October that it had put in place “multiple layers of protection to prevent misuse.”

And it says it is engaging in “direct dialogue with public figures and content owners to gather feedback on what controls they want” with a view to reflecting that in subsequent changes.