"Prometheus Actor Sues for Unauthorized Use of His Artificial Intelligence Avatar in Venezuela."
An avatar was spreading misleading information promoted by Nicolás Maduro's regime.
Dan Dewhirst, a British actor known for his roles in Prometheus, Dark Crystal, and Bleachers, has expressed his concern after seeing his image used in a misinformation campaign related to Venezuela. His artificial intelligence avatar was employed as a news presenter, spreading false information attributed to Nicolás Maduro's government. Dewhirst shared his experience through a statement issued by the UK actors' union, Equity, intending to alert others about the implications of signing contracts that allow the use of AI avatars.
In 2021, the actor signed an agreement with the company Synthesia to become one of the first performers to offer his image for creating a digital avatar. Although he was selected for the role, he began to have doubts about the broad clauses in the contract. After discussing his concerns with his agent and Equity, they attempted to modify the agreement but were unsuccessful. Despite this, they showed him a document containing conditions prohibiting the use of the avatar for illegal or inappropriate activities. Dewhirst expressed his shock at seeing his worst fears come to life: "I am literally the face of fake news," he argued.
For its part, a representative from Synthesia responded to Dewhirst's concerns and those of other actors, stating that the company takes content moderation seriously and is aware of the challenges associated with creating harmful content. Since then, Synthesia has implemented several improvements, such as an explicit ban on the production of content that simulates news by non-informative entities and strengthening its content review processes.
The company spokesperson explained that they are the only ones in their sector applying extensive content moderation at the point of creation. This process includes reviewing queued videos against content policies through automated systems and human moderators, allowing for the detection of most attempts to create problematic content, such as misinformation or fraud.
