The current double strike of hollywoodbetween Screen Actors Guild and that of Screenwritersis based on obtaining better working conditions and a new agreement regarding the residual: that extra income that creators earn when their work is exported to other markets, and that in the current framework of the streaming They are totally unregulated. But their demands also include regulations on the use of Artificial intelligence. It is a very hot topic in Hollywood, more because of what it may imply than because of what it means now.
Screenwriters and performers are aware that AI may be able to write stories and recreate images, and the producers grouped under the AMPTP It is not a scenario that they dislike. In fact, the large majors Hollywood are currently investing in AI and hiring specialists to handle it, while refusing to negotiate with unions. Everything is built on futures, but Stephen Fry He has just experienced firsthand the threat that this technology can pose. The renowned British performer has spoken about it in the recent CogX Festival of London, according to deadline.
We have seen Fry in films like V for Vendetta, Gosford Park either Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In the United Kingdom, his work in voicing the audiobooks of the saga is also appreciated. Harry Potter, and precisely this has been the raw material with which an AI has worked that has altered Fry quite a bit. The actor has detailed his discovery that an AI replicated his voice without permission to narrate a historical documentary, resorting to recording Harry Potter.
“I didn’t say a single word: it was a machine. And yes, it shocked me. They used the recording of my reading of the seven volumes of Harry Potterand from that set of data was created an AI of my voice and he made that new narrative.” It is not the first time that we know of AIs that replicate voices: facing the latest appearance ofMark Hamill rejuvenated in The Boba Fett bookthose responsible for Star Wars they did not need to resort to the actor Luke Skywalker to interpret it. They limited themselves to recreating his voice artificially, in a somewhat primitive format as it caused quite a stir in the audience.
The system used with Fry is much better. “What I have heard is not a mash upis a flexible artificial voicewhere the words are modulate to adjust to the meaning of each phrase,” details the actor. “So you could have me read anything, from a speech to parliament to hardcore porn, all without my knowledge. What you just heard was done Without my permission. So I found out about this, I sent it to my agents on both sides of the Atlantic and they went crazy: they had no idea something like this was possible.”
Fry is convinced that AI is a real threat. “You haven’t seen anything yet. And this is audio. It won’t be long until the videos of deepfake are just as convincing. “We have to think of AI like the first car: impressive, but unfinished.” Finally, Fry assumes that the most decisive thing regarding this technology is the intention with which it is used. “Technology is not a noun, is a verb. And she is always on the move.”
Guillermo del Toro He said, for example, that he was not afraid of Artificial Intelligence, but rather “natural stupidity”. Fry assumes that there are no good intentions with her if someone chooses to steal her voice directly, and that things could be even more disturbing. “What we have now is not what will be. When it comes to AI models, what we have now will advance at a faster pace than any technology we have ever seen,” he concludes. “We can all agree on something: It’s a fucking weird time to be alive.”.
Do you want to be up to date with all the latest movie and series news? Sign up for our newsletter.
