SAG-AFTRA fiercely backs Taylor Swift, Anne Hathaway after attacks

Celebrities in Hollywood – including Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez – were targeted in an AI controversy which has sparked debate over the privacy of public figures.

Chatbots with the names and likeness of celebrities were created by Meta users. Moreover, a Meta employee had produced at least three, including two “parody” bots of the 14-time Grammy-winning singer.

These “parody” bots would then make risqué content “without permission”. The bots routinely made sexual advances, often inviting a test user for meet-ups. They even produced NSFW photos.

The director of the organisation issued a statement to support the artists who were affected by the new AI technology and highlighted the potential safety risks from social-media users forming romantic attachments to chatbots pretending to be a real celebrity.

“Stalkers already pose a significant security concern for stars,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director of SAG-AFTRA said. “We’ve seen a history of people who are obsessive toward talent and of questionable mental state.”

He continued, “If a chatbot is using the image of a person and the words of the person, it’s readily apparent how that could go wrong.”

It is anticipated that the high-profile artists – such as Swift, Johansson, Hathaway – could opt for a legal action, SAG-AFTRA is pushing for a much bigger action to protect celebrities from AI duplication.

Crabtree-Ireland emphasised that only a federal legislation could protect people’s voices, likenesses and personas from AI creations.