Lights, camera, consent: Hollywood takes on AI with new licensing standard

A new licensing standard aims to give people control over how AI systems use their likenesses, creative works, characters, and designs. The Human Consent Standard allows individuals to grant full permission, set conditions, or block access entirely. The Verge reports, that this initiative is backed by Hollywood figures including George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Viola Davis, Kristen Stewart, and Steven Soderbergh, as well as organizations like the Creative Artists Agency and the Music Artists Coalition.

The standard is overseen by RSL Media, a nonprofit cofounded by Cate Blanchett. It builds on the Really Simple Licensing (RSL) Standard, which was designed to help websites signal how AI systems may use their content. RSL Media cofounder Eckart Walther tells The Verge that AI systems can discover the new standard through a website’s robots.txt file. Unlike the RSL Standard, which applies to content at a specific web address, the Human Consent Standard covers the underlying work or identity wherever it appears online.

A registry launching in June will allow people to verify their identity and publish their permissions. RSL Media then translates these into signals that AI systems can read.

Blanchett describes the initiative as “the industry’s first practical solution where people everywhere, not just public figures, can assert control over how their work is used by AI.” The standard is free to use.