The threats posed by artificial intelligence to artists, cinema and culture were highlighted at the César ceremony. Actor Emmanuel Curtil addressed the new Minister of Culture with the following statement: “We must safeguard, protect artists and the public rather than the giants of Tech.”
It would be wrong to consider this purely as a corporate issue. The threat posed by generative AI is a real challenge for our cultural exception and for France. On February 3, we learned that 11 voice actors, whose talents were exploited by two American companies, Fish Audio and Voice Dub, were issued a formal notice before being taken to court.
The real concern is our future, as we are heading towards a dehumanized world. Without regulation, the amazing tool of AI, meant to complement and support humans, could potentially weaken culture, thought, and human capabilities historically.
We are in a “political and societal moment” that seems strange and destabilizing, where predators seem to have taken control of our lives: geopolitical tensions, political destabilization, a sense of abandonment by the population, radicalism flooding public discourse with its exaggerations, and the diminishing of human dignity. The reasons are plentiful for feeling a loss of control over our lives.
We might shock you. We voice actors consider this the embodiment of France losing control of itself. France has prided itself for years on being the country of cultural exception, defending a certain spirit, an audacious relationship with culture. Yet, France is among the first to surrender to American artificial intelligence that pillages our artists without restraint, without control, without any pushback from our political leaders. It is incomprehensible.
In conclusion, concerning AI, there is still time to act to protect our children, our French cultural exception, and our sovereignty in preserving our language. However, collectively we are paralyzed when faced with the challenge posed by AI.
There is a legitimate fear of missing out on this fantastic technological shift. We believe that setting limits could restrict our economy and limit our French assets in this domain.
In this context, should we allow our children’s future to be in the hands of machines, without truly measuring the impact of this dehumanized confrontation on their creativity, cognitive abilities, or autonomous quest for knowledge? Should we passively allow our children to be exposed to deceptive content (Deepfake), be victims of identity theft, and malicious uses (harassment, manipulation, fraud)?
The youngest are indeed the primary victims of this “industrialization of falsehood and deception.”
Some countries, like Denmark, are testing more proactive responses aimed at better legally protecting the voice and image of individuals against Deepfakes. It is possible! Our goal is not to ban AI. We advocate for a protective framework that can be described as “pro-innovation” and “anti-abuse.” France has recently banned social networks for those under 15. The lawmakers adopted the text swiftly and decisively.
Yet, when it comes to protecting our cultural exception, we are faced with the wall of impossibilities: impossible because of Europe, impossible because you are not, we are not yet dead, impossible because we are only at the beginning of AI, impossible because there is a lack of evidence.
Rather than protecting us, we are promised subsidies to help us die.
A type of artistic euthanasia is being suggested to us. We reject it! We reject it because we believe in the future. We reject it because we believe in our cultural exception. We reject it because we believe in you, Madam Minister!
– Brigitte Lecordier, Jean Vandescasteele, Patrick Kuban, and Emmanuel Curtil, members of the association LES VOIX and spokespersons for the collective #TouchePasMaVF
