Last Wednesday I started Coffeetalk by saying, “We may soon live in a world where it is hard to tell whether the person speaking to us in a video is real or generated by a computer program”. It seems every time I peek at the latest news I see some new innovation in Artificial Intelligence. Open AI is now touting “Sora”, its text to video generative AI model. What that means is you write a text prompt and Sora creates a video up to 60 seconds long that matches the description of the prompt. For example, you could type something about people bustling around the Saskatoon Airport terminal pulling suitcases, lining up for boarding passes, going through security. Sora would then create a video showing that scene. Something else to do with AI I found interesting: actors who work in TV animation have ratified a new three year agreement that places protections around the use of AI including a requirement that producers obtain an actor’s consent before using their name as a prompt to create an AI generated voice. And, speaking of voices, the state of Tennessee has made the “Elvis Act” a Law as of last Thursday. The Bill’s full name is the” Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act of 2024”. The previous “Personal Rights Protection Act” only included protection for someone’s name, photograph or likeness and was partially inspired by Elvis Presley in order to extend his publicity rights after his death. The new “Elvis Act” includes voice protection. Onward we go into the new frontier of Artificial Intelligence.
That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.