Cate Blanchett has co-founded a new nonprofit company, RSL Media, to help provide a human consent framework for the use of creative works, names, images, and likenesses by AI.
Champions and supporters include Javier Bardem, George Clooney, Viola Davis, Tom Hanks, Dame Helen Mirren, Steven Soderbergh, Kristen Stewart, Meryl Streep, Dame Emma Thompson, Creative Artists Agency, and Music Artists Coalition.
The RSL Human Consent Standard, a free public registry, will be released in June to allow anyone to declare AI privileges. The company was founded on the idea that consent must come first. AI systems use human expressions, creative works, and human likenesses without consent. RSL Media addresses this issue by converting human consent into machine-readable signals.
“AI technologies are expanding rampantly, essentially unchecked and unregulated. Consent must be a primary consideration if humans are to remain in front of these technologies,” Blanchett said. She added: “RSL Media is simple, effective and free Solution-based technology to facilitate and activate consent. It’s also the industry’s first practical solution that allows people everywhere, not just celebrities, to control how their work is used by AI. ”
RSL Nikki Hexum, co-founder and CEO of Media, said: “AI cannot respect invisible rights, which means human consent is effectively invisible in this new digital age. The right to decide whether an AI can use your work or identity should not be reserved only to those who can afford a lawyer or have a platform large enough to be heard. It is a fundamental human right.” Hexum added: “RSL Media was founded to make these choices clear so people can set their own terms, responsible businesses can respect them, and policymakers have a practical way to make AI protection work in the real world.”
RSL Media allows users to decide how their identity and creative work is used by AI systems: conditionally allowed or prohibited. These choices act like traffic lights. Additionally, RSL Media provides AI systems with a universal way to understand consent and solve problems posed by complex rights systems.
Blanchett has long been vocal about the dangers of AI. Earlier this year, Blanchett was one of 700 artists, writers and creators, including Scarlett Johansson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, to unite behind a new anti-AI campaign accusing tech companies of exploiting copyrighted works without permission.
At RSL Media, more celebrities are speaking out and showing their support.
“Of course, it’s inevitable that artists and cultural creators will engage with AI, but right now, AI is just stealing from all of us,” Thompson said. “This is urgent and essential work. It’s also very viable, so let’s do it without delay.”
Director Steven Soderbergh said: “RSL Media has a solution to a very serious problem, and it’s simple, transparent and resistant to tampering. The sooner we adopt this independent standard, the better for everyone involved.”
Mirren also expressed support for the new initiative. “Artists have always been inspired by their predecessors. That’s how cultures develop and reflect the societies in which they arose. Every artist knows that there is an absolute gulf between inspiration and imitation. One is an extension of the imagination, the other a block to it, and at the same time a gross theft.”
As of today, registrants can reserve a consent ID and become a trusted partner. RSL Media will launch a free public registry in June, allowing you to register and verify your identity, as well as set permissions for your identity and creative works.
