The relationship between the entertainment industry and AI is again being tested. Hollywood industry news site Deadline reported that the owner of the animated series Peppa Pig is getting pushback after asking the show's child voice actors to sign contracts that would allow for AI recreations of their voices.
Peppa Pig, which runs on Nickelodeon as well as streaming services such as Paramount Plus and Amazon's Prime Video, is wildly popular and in its 11th season. It is owned by the toy company Hasbro.
The Deadline story centers on an open letter from the Agents of Young Performers Association, a UK-based group that represents child performers. The letter states that a long-running animated TV series "has offered contracts to child voice actors insisting that they agree to the use of AI thus allowing them to use the child's voice in all commercial assets within their franchise."
The letter does not mention Peppa Pig by name, but Deadline said industry sources confirmed that it is in reference to that show.
At issue is the matter of consent. "Children cannot provide fully informed legal consent and a parent or guardian's approval should never be used as a blanket licence to capture, clone, train, or reuse a child's voice indefinitely," the letter stated. "Any agreement involving a child's voice should be fully exempt from all AI usage."
Hasbro acknowledged the letter's existence.
"Hasbro is aware of the open letter circulating regarding AI clauses in children's performance contracts. We are not able to comment on specific negotiations or contractual arrangements," it said via email in response to a query from CNET.
The toymaker did speak to the larger topic more generally. "The protection of child performers is core to who Hasbro is, it's part of our DNA. As industry standards around AI continue to evolve, we are committed to engaging with this issue in a responsible and transparent manner," the statement said.
A representative for AYPA told CNET that it was not confirming the identity of the "international children's franchise producing a long running animated television series" referenced in the letter, which by intent did not name a specific studio or project.
"Here in the UK, children are not permitted to join Equity until the age of 10 and yet parents of child actors who are not able to join the union for support and guidance are being asked to sign away their rights. A Non AI clause should be standard in all contracts for child actors," AYPA's email said.
AI and Hollywood's fraught relationship
The response to the reported contract wording is another episode in a tumultuous saga over the use of AI in movies, television, music and video games. Deadline's story came out in the same week that the movie studio A24 announced a deal with Google DeepMind to develop AI filmmaking tools, a move that has some fans of indie cinema seeing red.
AI has been the subject of Hollywood strikes over how the technology will be used in scripts and to replicate the likenesses of performers. As AI models have gotten more sophisticated, it's stirred anxiety over whether, or when, it would supplant the work of talent and crew across movies and television. AI can speed up production and save money for studios, but those efficiency gains could potentially put many people in the entertainment industry out of work.
When artists or studios aren't transparent about their use of AI, as happened last year with a Will Smith video that included AI-generated concert footage, the backlash can be swift.
Music companies are also fighting their own battles over AI deepfakes on music platforms and on social media, while also licensing the use of music from major artists for AI remixes, as UMG is doing.
The video game industry, too, is at a crossroads. Some studios and developers swear they have no plans to use AI in any stage of game development, while others are deploying generative AI to create game assets or supplement voice talent in their titles.
