Fans might well accept and even demand fake versions of their favorite personalities, artists, etc. — as long as they know it’s the real fake. Synthetic, but official. Because fans care about the relationship to the real thing, not necessarily the real thing.

An experiment in cross-posting to Ghost, Medium, Threads, LinkedIn.

The Scarlett Johansson-OpenAI news of the week:

ScarJo v. Open AI:

Behold, the latest news hinting that rights of publicity / trademark and other relational rights and signifiers of origin may prove more important than copyright for AI. (Not saying that’s good or bad, just a thing to watch.)

As raw PR antics, the upshot of this one is not clear yet. (Again, not saying whether good or bad … but wait to see which celebs go on to opt in to sanctioned versions of this.)

Well before ScarJoGate, lobbying was already afoot to expand rights of publicity and their kin. There are bad ways that could play out, but also interesting ways it could play out.

(Yes, this all assumes we still know how to pass and interpret laws.)

The bad way this could play out: Rights of publicity become hard property rights, with people – especially famous people – having absolute say over the use of their name or likeness. This would gum things up, curb healthy discourse and nominal / descriptive use, kneecap lighthearted, critical, or satirical impersonation, etc. It could turn time-honored notions of free expression about public figures on their head.

The more interesting way it could play out: If generative AI indeed leads to floods of content of uncertain origin and reliability, fans, consumers, and citizens will demand (I would hope?) more information about the source, origin, and trustworthiness of a thing. At their best, that's what TM and ROP can do.

Fans might well accept and even demand fake versions of their favorite personalities, artists, etc. – as long as they know it's the real fake.

The Real Fake (I'm claiming coinage) = Synthetic, but official, blessed, certified. Because what fans care about is the relationship to the real thing, not necessarily the genuine expression of the real thing. Which is why – among other reasons, to be sure – ScarJoGate rankles. It's not that it's fake; it's that it's a fake fake.

That and, of course, that there was (is? will be?) an opportunity here for a win-win in Gen AI at a moment when zero-sum games of chicken seem to be the norm.

Cross-posted here and on Threads.