By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Generative AI may have just picked on the wrong celebrity, as millions of fans are furiously attacking porn sites that have posted deep fakes of the Taylor Swift.
The actors union SAG-AFTRA is also coming after generative AI deep fakes, once more calling for the US government to ban them, saying the images are “upsetting, harmful and deeply concerning.”
“The development and dissemination of fake images — especially those of a lewd nature — without someone’s consent must be made illegal,” the union said. “As a society, we have it in our power to control these technologies, but we must act now before it is too late.”
Deep fakes have been a major issue for the performers’ union for years now, if not decades, as the practice of creating deep fakes precedes the development of generative AI by decades. In the past, unscrupulous parties have created deep fakes of celebrities for a variety of purposes, typically using Photoshop or similar photo editing software.
Now, however, the internet is being flooded by disturbing pornographic images purporting to show primarily female celebrities, generated in seconds by generative AI bots. The latest controversy erupted when images of Swift were circulated on X, being seen 47 million times before they were pulled down.
In response, the White House has said it supports legislation to deal with the issue. “It is alarming,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary. “We are alarmed by the reports of the circulation of images that you just laid out.
“There should be legislation, obviously, to deal with this issue.”
In fact, a bill has been introduced to deal specifically with deep fake porn images. The Democratic congressman Joe Morelle of New York introduced the Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act last year, which is supported by SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher.
“Sexual abuse, whether occurring physically or digitally, should never be excused or permitted as ‘personal expression,’ and it should never be tolerated,” Drescher said.
However, SAG-AFTRA and many celebrities, agents, studios and music publishers say they want broader legislation that protects their brand and intellectual property from generative AI. Another bill being proposed to deal with the issue is called the NO AI FRAUDS Act, and would prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to distribute fake replicas of real people without consent, whether or not the images are sexually explicit. The bill, if passed, would protect all people from having their image used without their permission.
While the attention this week is on Taylor Swift, a brewing legal dispute involving the estate of comedian George Carlin also illustrates how deep fakes, whether created by AI or not, are creating headaches for the entertainment industry.
The estate of George Carlin has filed a federal lawsuit against the comedy podcast Dudesy for an hour-long comedy special sold as an AI-generated impression of the late comedian. However, once the lawsuit was filed, a representative for one of the podcast hosts admits that it was actually written by a human.
The lawsuit was filed by Carlin’s manager, Jerold Hamza, in a California district court, and claims that the special, “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead: presents itself as being created by an AI trained on decades worth of Carlin’s material.
That training would, by definition, involve making “unauthorized copies” of “Carlin’s original, copyrighted routines” without permission in order “to fabricate a semblance of Carlin’s voice and generate a Carlin stand-up comedy routine,” according to the lawsuit.
“Defendants’ AI-generated ‘George Carlin Special’ is not a creative work,” the lawsuit reads, in part. “It is a piece of computer-generated click-bait which detracts from the value of Carlin’s comedic works and harms his reputation. It is a casual theft of a great American artist’s work.”
Whether or not the podcast was created using AI, it is clear entertainers are fed up with their images being used without permission, and particularly when used in disturbing, sexualized images.
While Swift is said to be horrified and furious about the images, the fact she was targeted may hasten a legislative solution for this type of law, which other celebrities like actor Scarlett Johansson have been calling for for many years. Johansson is another person repeatedly targeted by deep fake porn creators, but said in 2018 that without laws forbidding the practice, there is nothing she can do to protect herself.
“I have sadly been down this road many, many times,” Johansson said. “The fact is that trying to protect yourself from the internet and its depravity is basically a lost cause, for the most part.”
Now, millions of Swift fans, known as ‘Swifties’, are essentially going to war, calling for new legislation and attacking porn sites and social media sites that post deep fake images of the singer. SAG-AFTRA is now joining that battle once more. Having already fought for contract provisions that require both consent and payment for use of AI to digitally replicate an actor’s performance, the union now says it will be lobbying hard for new laws protecting its members and the general public.
“We support Taylor, and women everywhere who are the victims of this kind of theft of their privacy and right to autonomy,” the union said in a statement Friday.