I’ve been hearing from folks who have been telling me that they lost out on job offers because they refused to let the company store their biometric data. Or they were not allowed entry into places without giving up their image for facial recognition.
This goes back to the scenario I have been talking about for a long time, where we no longer will even have the option to opt out. Because not having the opportunity to apply, enter, and travel without having to give up your biometric data, is not giving you an option in the end.
Depending on how negotiations go in the WGA, SAG-AFTRA strikes, the outcome of AI and authorship, ownership, creativity, and likenesses will impact every single industry and sector.
In addition to vacuuming up your writing, audio, video, voice, artwork, and likenesses to train algorithms, which is already happening, some companies are making it a requirement that you give up your biometric data to be employed by that company. And that is only one close step away from companies, including networks and studios, making you give up your information legally through contract, to even be considered for the role or job.
When I say information here, it is not limited to companies taking your biometric data, but also your creations, your writing, your output, your video, voice, audio, and also your likeness.
Even if you’re not a writer or actor, the reason why this decision impacts you is because anyone’s likeness, non-actors as well, can be used to train AI to create a character. Your likeness could be used to create a commercial or even a work presentation. Your voice can be reproduced to be used for an audiobook. Your book can and has already been used to train large language models. This also goes for your image, music, photos, artwork, and voice as well. This is often done completely without your knowledge, let alone your consent.
Our writing, books, web pages, scripts, blogs, photos, posts, and any format that can get online is already being used to train AI models. Each of your Google searches, for instance, are entries that Google has taken to train its algorithms.
So in all of this, no matter what industry, format, or medium it is, it all comes down to consent and control over what should be our agency. And this is why when it comes to AI, I am so adamantly always talking about consent. We must be clear about what it means for us to have actual consent in this conversation. We must have consent around our own agency.
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