Actors demand control of body scan data amid growing fears over AI

Actors whose bodies are scanned during the creation of visual effects for films are demanding control of the data harvested during the process, amid heightened concern over Al's impact on performers.

- Michael Savage Media editor

Olivia Williams says a system similar to 'nudity riders' could work

Olivia Williams, the star of Dune: The Prophecy and The Crown, said she and other actors were regularly pressured to have their bodies scanned by banks of cameras while on set, with few guarantees about how the data would be used.

Williams said performers were told that “if you want to be in the scene or you want the scene to look cool with the alien crawling out of your brain” then scans were needed.

Actors fear the data could end up being used to train AI models, paving the way for the technology to eventually take away work.

A renewed debate over the impact of AI on actors has been prompted by widespread condemnation of the creation of an AI “actor” known as Tilly Norwood, a development that has given a focus to an ongoing fight to clarify performers’ rights.

Williams believes actors should have control over the data as they do over scenes of nudity. “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.”