In this episode we take a look at very recent deals that tech giants have made with media and content platforms to train their AI models, with consent. We are asking: is the tide turning for training AI towards a licensing model, and away from

Getting Organised: The UVA Story, with Patrick Messe

24 days ago 53m 37s

The story of UVA (United Voice Artists) is a lesson in organising, not just for Creative Workers, but for everyone affected by AI - which is to say, Everyone.Co-President, Patrick Messe, explains the urgent need for representation that brought

The Right to Deepfake, with Dr Dimitrios Kagiaros

May 15th, 2024 58m 37s

Should the creation of Deepfakes be a protected right under the banner of Free Speech?How do existing laws balance our right to Free Speech with our Right to Privacy?Dr Dimitri Kagiaros is Assistant Professor in Law at the University of Durham

Does AI Mean What It Says? With Dr Jumbly Grindrod

May 2nd, 2024 55m 54s

This time, we get a philosopher's take on AI.Jumbly Grindrod is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Reading. He specializes in the philosophy of language and epistemology, which refers to the theory of knowledge itself.Does it - or sh

The Sara Poyzer Twitter Storm, Marvin Gaye's Missing Music and Your Digital Afterlife

Apr 17th, 2024 59m 55s

In this episode, we select from the latest AI stories that have grabbed the headlines or slipped by stealth into our feeds. From the miscommunication that made Mamma Mia actor, Sara Poyzer, trend on Twitter, to the discovery of Marvin Gaye's l

Is Ethical AI Good for Business? With Jamie Anderson & Ben Field

Apr 3rd, 2024 50m 7s

Much of the fear generated by AI is about theft; the companies that own the technology will steal your image, replicate your voice and replace you with an AI version of you that takes your job.But perhaps it doesn't have to be that way.Since t

Gerry Anderson: A Life Resurrected, with Jamie Anderson & Ben Field

Mar 20th, 2024 55m 20s

How would it feel to see a digital deepfake of someone you love who has died? What would you need to consider before agreeing to create it?Jamie Anderson and Ben Field can answer both of these questions and more. "Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncha

Dr Dominic Lees: Deepfaking Margaret Thatcher

Mar 6th, 2024 56m 3s

Dr Dominic Lees is an award-winning filmmaker and director. He is also Associate Professor of Filmmaking at the University of Reading, with a research specialism in deepfakes. In 2019, "Virtual Maggie" was among his projects, exploring how AI

The SAG-AFTRA Deal, Part 2

Feb 22nd, 2024 48m 15s

Who is going to own your clone? Who gets to control your digital double after you're dead? And what kind of deal can unions do for the departed?In the second of two episodes dedicated to unpicking the SAG-AFTRA Deal, we move on from the rules

The SAG-AFTRA Deal, Part I

Feb 15th, 2024 38m 41s

On the 14th of July 2023, the American actors’ union ‘SAG-AFTRA’ joined the strike already begun by the WGA (Writers' Guild of America.) The dispute with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) was about pay, working co

Yvonne Muinde: Painting with AI

Feb 1st, 2024 53m 46s

Our guest in this episode is Yvonne Muinde, an award-winning visual effects artist whose credit list takes in a range of iconic films, including the Planet of the Apes, The Hobbit, and Avatar. An established fine artist, Yvonne's work has fea

The SAG-AFTRA Digital Voice Replica Agreement

Jan 18th, 2024 39m 3s

“A ground-breaking, innovative new contract”; that’s the headline for the deal negotiated between SAG-AFTRA, the US Actors’ union and Replica, the company using AI to create digital voice replicas.What does the deal cover? What does it omit? As

Short Talks: Do I Want To Be A Clone?

Jan 4th, 2024 20m 37s

What does it mean to have your voice or performance cloned? Is there a difference between cloning and synthesis?If I agree to the creation of my digital double, do I have any say in what it does next? And wherever it goes, will the Law be runni

Short Talks: What Am I Worth?

Dec 21st, 2023 14m 45s

The phrase "Know your worth" is often repeated among artists, performers and other freelance workers who have the responsibility for negotiating their own rates and terms of employment for every job they do. But how do you go about valuing your

Call My Agent

Dec 7th, 2023 1h 4m

Agents are the hard-negotiating, multi-tasking, contract-savvy industry experts, working to match the Talent they represent with paying clients. In what can be long contractual chains, agents provide a layer of protection for performers, who tr

Legislating AI

Nov 23rd, 2023 1h 5m

The EU Artificial Intelligence Act has been described as the most ambitious attempt to date at creating a legal framework for AI.We are joined this time by Dragos Tudorache, Member of the European Parliament, Vice-President of the Renew Europe

Buyouts 101

Nov 9th, 2023 1h 8m

What does the term "Buyout" mean? What's the best way to respond to buyout requests from clients?And if you've agreed to a buyout, does that mean you consent to any and all uses - even to AI imitations of your voice/performance without additio

Moral Rights 101

Oct 26th, 2023 38m 51s

In this episode, we talk about performers’ moral rights. What are they? Who is entitled to them? And can they help performers and other creatives to protect themselves and their work from potential AI abuses?

Dragging AI

Oct 12th, 2023 55m 41s

How celebrated artist Jake Elwes is queering AI data sets and challenging big tech to think about gender, cultural bias and ethics in data mining through their creative practice.For more on Jake and their work, visit: https://www.jakeelwes.co

A United Front

Oct 5th, 2023 57m 49s

How unions are taking active steps to champion artists and performers who are facing job displacement and replacement by AI. We speak to Liam Budd, Industrial Officer for Audio and New Media within Equity , the British union for creative worker

The Artist's Dilemma

Sep 27th, 2023 50m

For Artists, AI offers an exciting toolkit - particularly tools for performance synthesis. But alongside the creative opportunities looms a potential threat to their creative futures. Annette, Mathilde and Marcus talk with composer, musician

Picketing Hollywood

Sep 18th, 2023 44m 59s

Why have America’s actors and writers gone on strike? And is why AI so important in the biggest Hollywood artists' strike since 1960?Tim Friedlander is founder of the National Association of Voice Artists (NAVA). Tim chats with Marcus, Mathilde

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