MINNEAPOLIS — Rules aren't always set in stone when it comes to AI. In fact, lawmakers scramble to define those lines.
Yet another example of controversy surrounding AI surfaced this week. Scarlett Johansson said she was asked multiple times by OpenAI to consider licensing her voice for a virtual assistant.
She says she declined, even days before a demonstration of a voice many consider comparable to hers. In fact, Johansson played a virtual assistant in the movie "Her."
Her lawyers are asking OpenAI to stop using that voice. The company says a paid actor was used to create that and it's not an imitation of the celebrity, but they suspended its release.
"I mean, they definitely modeled that voice after Johansson," inferred Nancy Lyons, the CEO of Clockwork, a Experience design & technology consultancy. "The difference being she got paid for this movie."
"I think policymakers are starting to address that line," said Lyons.
Senator Amy Klobuchar and other lawmakers are scrambling to clear up those lines. The Senate Rules committee recently advanced three bipartisan bills out of committee which require disclosure of AI use in campaigns.
"You've got to be able to protect people's, what we call, intellectual property," said Klobuchar. "It means their identities, it means their voices, it means anything works of art that people produce. Maybe in the case of Scarlett Johansson, by your voice, you've got to be able to own your own identity. And I was pleased that she came out front on this."
But experts insist AI can be used for good.
"I use it as a virtual assistant," said Lyons. "I use it to help me get thought starters for articles I want to write I do a lot of public speaking. Even in helping my kid with homework. As an adult, I don't spend my time in those subjects anymore. And I'm a little rusty, but I don't need him to know that."
But even with the good, experts say there needs to be limits.
"Whatever legal action Scarlett Johansson is taking is going to push for additional change," said Lyons. "She's probably going to lead the way for a case that sets the precedent that protects actors or not. Let's hope that she does."
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