Canadian TV, film, music industries ask MPs for protection against AI

Photo: The Canadian Press

Canada's actors, directors and musicians are sounding the alarm over artificial intelligence, saying it threatens their livelihood and reputations. Actor Eleanor Noble and National President of ACTRA. the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television Radio Artists (ACTRA) speaks at a rally in Toronto, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Canada's actors, directors and musicians are sounding the alarm over artificial intelligence, saying it threatens their livelihood and reputations.

Groups representing people who work in TV, movies and music are calling on the Liberal government to protect their industries in its AI legislation.

Actors' union ACTRA says unbridled use of AI could result in people's names and images being misused in artificially crafted videos — or even replace human actors entirely.

And the Directors Guild of Canada says generative AI like ChatGPT is reproducing extensive amounts of work without permission or compensation, calling it an existential threat.

Music Canada says AI-generated content should be labelled as such so that people can tell the difference.

The groups gave testimony today to the House of Commons industry committee, which is studying the proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act.