George Clooney, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep Champion 'Human Consent Standard' in AI Licensing

A groundbreaking new standard is poised to empower individuals, enabling them to dictate the terms under which artificial intelligence systems can utilize their likenesses and creative works.

The entertainment industry, including prominent Hollywood actors and producers, is rallying behind a novel AI licensing standard. Termed the Human Consent Standard, this initiative aims to establish clear guidelines for AI systems regarding the use of an individual's likeness, creative work, characters, and designs, specifying when compensation or permission is required. It provides individuals with the flexibility to define usage terms, ranging from granting full access, to permitting use under specific conditions, or to imposing complete restrictions.

This innovative Human Consent Standard is an evolution of the Really Simple Licensing (RSL) Standard, which debuted last year to enable websites to communicate AI usage policies for their content. The oversight of this new standard falls to RSL Media, a nonprofit organization notably cofounded by Cate Blanchett. Its launch garners significant support from a constellation of talent, including George Clooney, Viola Davis, Tom Hanks, Kristen Stewart, Steven Soderbergh, and Meryl Streep, alongside influential organizations such as the Creative Artists Agency and the Music Artists Coalition.

Eckart Walther, cofounder of RSL Media, clarified in an email to The Verge that, much like its predecessor, the RSL Standard, AI systems will be able to identify the Human Consent Standard via a website's robots.txt page—a common protocol informing web and AI crawlers about content scraping permissions. Walther highlighted a key distinction: while “RSL usually applies to content at a specific URL,” the Human Consent Standard “applies to the underlying work, identity, character, or mark itself, wherever it appears,” offering broader protection.

Come June, AI systems will cross-reference these declarations with a dedicated registry. This registry will serve as a platform for individuals to verify their identity and meticulously define the permissions for the use of their likeness and creative endeavors. Subsequently, RSL Media will undertake the crucial task of “translating” these specified terms into machine-readable signals for AI systems. Walther emphasized the registry's core mission: “The purpose of the Registry is to give people and rights holders a trusted place to publish those declarations, so responsible AI systems can check whether a work, likeness, voice, character, or brand is allowed, prohibited, or requires permission.”

Proactive measures against unauthorized digital replication are already being taken by various artists and actors. For instance, Matthew McConaughey has notably trademarked specific clips of himself, while Taylor Swift has sought trademark protection for a personal photograph and two distinct soundbites featuring her voice, saying, “Hey, it’s Taylor” and “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift.”

The introduction of RSL Media democratizes the ability for all individuals to establish permissions for their creative output. In a press release, Cate Blanchett articulated the platform's significance: “RSL Media is a simple, effective and free solutions-based technology for facilitating and activating consent. It’s also the industry’s first practical solution where people everywhere, not just public figures, can assert control over how their work is used by AI.”