Olivia Williams says actors need ‘nudity rider’-type controls for AI body scans
Actors should have as much control over the data harvested from scans of their body as they do over nudity scenes, the actor Olivia Williams has said, amid heightened concern over artificial intelligence’s impact on performers,The star of Dune: Prophecy and The Crown said she and other actors were regularly pressed to have their bodies scanned by banks of cameras while on set, with few guarantees about how the data would be used or where it would end up,“A reasonable request would be to follow the precedent of the ‘nudity rider’,” she said,“This footage can only be used in the action of that scene,It cannot be used in any other context at all, and when the scene has been edited it must be deleted on all formats.
”Williams pointed to vague clauses in contracts that appeared to give studios wide-ranging rights over a performer’s likeness “on all platforms now existing or yet to be devised throughout the universe in perpetuity”,A renewed debate over the impact of artificial intelligence on actors has been prompted by widespread condemnation of the creation of an AI actor known as Tilly Norwood,Actors fear the data could be used to train AI models on their likenesses or poses, paving the way for the technology to eventually take away work,Performing and supporting actors, as well as stunt performers and dancers, have told the Guardian they have been “ambushed” into undertaking the body scans while on set,Several said they had no time to agree how the data produced would be treated, or whether it could be used to train AI models.
Williams said she had tried and failed to have wide-ranging clauses removed from her contracts.She also investigated how to own her own body scan data to license it for limited use, but lawyers advised her the law was too unclear.Legal fees for her attempts to reclaim her data proved too high.“I don’t necessarily want to be paid any more money for the use of my likeness,” she said.“I just don’t want my likeness to appear in places where I haven’t been, doing things I haven’t done, saying things I haven’t said.
“They make up the law as they go along and no one is stopping them – creating a precedent, reinforcing the precedent,I sign it, because if I don’t, I lose the job,”Williams said she was speaking out for the sake of young actors who faced little choice but to go through the scans, with few guarantees about what would happen to the data,“I have known a 17-year-old who was persuaded into a scanner – and like the child-catcher scene in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, she obliged,” she said,“She was a minor, so her chaperone had to give consent.
Her chaperone was her grandmother, unaware of the law.”The issue is the subject of talks between Equity, the UK performing arts union, and Pact, the UK screen sector’s trade body.“We’re demanding that AI protections are mainstreamed in the major film and TV agreements to put consent and transparency at the heart of scanning on set,” said Paul W Fleming, Equity’s general secretary.“It is within the industry’s reach to implement basic minimum standards which would be a gamechanger for performers and artists working in UK TV and film.”Pact said in a statement: “Producers are well aware of their obligations under data protection law and these issues are being considered as part of the collective negotiations between Pact and Equity.
As the negotiations are ongoing, we cannot comment in any detail.”
‘Legacies condensed to AI slop’: OpenAI Sora videos of the dead raise alarm with legal experts
Last night I was flicking through a dating app. One guy stood out: “Henry VIII, 34, King of England, nonmonogamy”. Next thing I know, I am at a candlelit bar sharing a martini with the biggest serial dater of the 16th century.But the night is not over. Next, I am DJing back-to-back with Diana, Princess of Wales
Dan and Phil’s relationship revelation is a reminder of how toxic fandoms can be | Eilish Gilligan
This week, longtime British YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester uploaded a new video confirming they have been in a secret romantic relationship for the past 16 years.If you weren’t a deeply online child during the 2010s, you probably have no idea who Dan and Phil are, or why this matters. But to those who formed a robust parasocial bond with the duo – who have more than 13 million collective subscribers on YouTube – this was a revelatory moment. It was also a sobering reminder of the emotional damage that toxic fandoms can wreak on their subjects.Over the course of 45 minutes, Howell and Lester, now in their thirties, share the “apocalyptic constant stress of the Dan and Phil dating conspiracy”, where “fans” subjected them to frenzied speculation for 16 years straight
Banks need stricter controls to prevent romance fraud, says City regulator
The City regulator has called on banks and payment firms to bring in stricter controls protecting customers from romance fraud after a study showed a number of missed “red flags” that led to people losing huge sums of money.The review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) highlighted one case where someone lost £428,000, another where a customer made 403 payments totalling £72,000 to a fraudster and a case where someone wanted money to transfer cryptocurrency to their “partner” in Iraq.Romance scams, where criminals try to build emotional connections with victims before defrauding them, have been growing in scale and complexity in recent years.Figures from the City of London police put the loss from romance fraud at £106m last year, although the FCA says the real figure is much higher as many people do not report the crime owing to feelings of shame and stigma.The FCA review of six banks and payment firms looked at how they detect and prevent romance fraud and found large disparities in how victims of fraud were treated
Launch of veteran card will be used to test UK government’s digital ID scheme
Former military personnel will be used to test and refine the government’s divisive digital ID scheme from Friday, when ministers make a smartphone-based veteran card available to 1.8 million people.The proof of service, which in its current physical version gives access to charities, retail discounts and certain public services, will be the first of a series of official credentials the government wants to let people carry in a government app.Digital driving licences will be in development by the end of this year and by the end of 2027, digital versions of every government-issued credential – including disclosure and barring checks – will be offered for voluntary use, officials said. Keir Starmer wants to make carrying a digital ID mandatory for anyone wanting or needing to prove their right to work in the UK by the end of this parliament
Heed warnings from Wolmar on robotaxis | Brief letters
In assessing the merits of driverless taxis (Driverless taxis from Waymo will be on London’s roads next year, US firm announces, 15 October), passengers should consider the cautions presented in Christian Wolmar’s book Driverless Cars: On a Road to Nowhere. Adherence to Isaac Asimov’s first law of robotics (“A robot may not injure a human being”) requires the taxi to stop if a person steps in front of it. Highway robbery or worse may be facilitated.Prof Clive CoenKing’s College London Your article (Parliamentary staff of colour earn £2,000 less than white colleagues, study suggests, 12 October) says that disabled employees earn £646 less a year “than able-bodied colleagues”. Disabilities come in many forms, not all physical
Barrister found to have used AI to prepare for hearing after citing ‘fictitious’ cases
An immigration barrister was found by a judge to be using AI to do his work for a tribunal hearing after citing cases that were “entirely fictitious” or “wholly irrelevant”.Chowdhury Rahman was discovered using ChatGPT-like software to prepare his legal research, a tribunal heard. Rahman was found not only to have used AI to prepare his work, but “failed thereafter to undertake any proper checks on the accuracy”.The upper tribunal judge Mark Blundell said Rahman had even tried to hide the fact he had used AI and “wasted” the tribunal’s time. Blundell said he was considering reporting Rahman to the Bar Standards Board
Nearly 2,000 Foreign Office jobs ‘at risk’, says PCS union
Three neo-Nazis jailed for plotting terror attacks on UK mosques and synagogues
Ministers plan high-level visits to China despite espionage trial outcry
No 10 says Badenoch’s claim PM should have intervened to stop China spy trial collapsing ‘absurd’ – as it happened
China spying case: dream job turns into nightmare for DPP Stephen Parkinson
Farage urged to explain anti-abortion links to meeting with Trump officials