New AI Protections Laws Arent a Silver Bullet Against Rapidly Changing Tech, Says Top SAG-AFTRA Lawyer [Video]

AI protections just signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom aren’t a “silver bullet” that will solve all the problems of the rapidly advancing technology, said SAG-AFTRA’s general counsel Jeffrey Bennett at TheGrill conference this week.

“It’s a web of protections,” Bennett said of the union’s ongoing efforts to pass laws on the state, federal and local level to protect performers from unauthorized use of their likenesses. “None of these are the silver bullet that’s going to solve problems that we’re going to have to deal with when it comes to digital replication or synthetic content.”

The new Newsom-backed laws in California require contracts to specify the use of AI-generated digital replicas of a performer’s voice or likeness and prohibit the use of AI replicas of deceased performers without the consent of their estates.

The conversations with legislators and stakeholders in Hollywood and the tech industry surrounding what is covered by the First Amendment have been “exhaustive,” Bennett said in conversation …