Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum call out lack of AI safeguards

Actors Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum are calling out the lack of safeguards surrounding artificial intelligence (AI).

The two movie stars, who are promoting their new film “Fly Me to the Moon,” both expressed support for Washington to take action on the emerging technology, which has created worries in Hollywood ranging from actors having their images misused to scripts being written by software programs.

“Obviously, we’re all waiting and supporting like this, like the passing of legislation to protect everybody’s individual rights,” Johansson said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The “Avengers” star said her own dispute with OpenAI shows “how vulnerable everybody is to it,” while noting that she is still waiting on legislation to address the issue.

OpenAI released a voiced AI assistant last month that Johansson said sounds “eerily similar” to her voice.

She also said it shows “how little protection people do have, if any, of their work and their likeness.”

Tatum also said in the interview that jobs outside the movie industry could also be impacted by AI.

“Well, I’m wondering which one is going to be addressed first in a way. I mean, is it going to be like this industry, or like, out just in the normal world?” he said.

“People are going to start losing jobs, like, not in the movie industry at all. So many people are going to lose their jobs just to an AI that can do so much. And I just can’t believe that’s not even a bigger story than it is right now,” he added.

Johansson said last month that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously reached out to her about voicing an AI assistant, but she declined. She said at the time that she hired legal counsel to request OpenAI take down the voice, which it “reluctantly” agreed to do.

“In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity,” she said at the time. “I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.”

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing thousands of actors and other media professionals, also threw its support behind Johansson at the time.

The union struck a deal last year with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that established guidelines for the use of AI, including allowing members to give their consent and be compensated for generative AI used to replicate their likeness.