Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s estate doesn’t play about the family legacy, and OpenAI just messed around and found out. The estate has long protected King’s image and words, even slapping CBS with a lawsuit over unauthorized use of his “I Have a Dream” speech — a case settled. And with the estate’s ownership of “life rights” — the exclusive authority to use King’s life story, image, and words for commercial purposes — they aren’t letting anything slide. Now, after users created racist deepfakes of King using its new video tool, Sora, the artificial intelligence platform has been forced to “pause” all AI-generated depictions of the civil rights icon.
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OpenAI addressed the matter in a statement on Twitter Thursday (Oct. 16), calling out the “disrespectful” depictions generated using their technology. The company said that while there are strong “free speech interests,” public figures and their families should still have authority over how their image and likeness are used.
The statement read: “The Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. (King, Inc.) and OpenAI have worked together to address how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s likeness is represented in Sora generations. Some users generated disrespectful depictions of Dr. King’s image. So at King, Inc.’s request, OpenAI has paused generations depicting Dr. King as it strengthens guardrails for historical figures.
“While there are strong free speech interests in depicting historical figures, OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used. Authorized representatives or estate owners can request that their likeness not be used in Sora cameos.”
The statement concluded: “OpenAI thanks Dr. Bernice A. King for reaching out on behalf of King, Inc., and John Hope Bryant and the AI Ethics Council for creating space for conversations like this.”
Fans ran to the comments section to give the two cents as per usual, and let’s say the tech giant may not have gotten the response they expected.
“If OpenAI believes public figures and families should have control over their likeness then you should ask for consent before you include them in your dataset you bozos,” one fan shot back.
“Fuck off. You are a disgusting and dystopian company. I look forward to you getting sued into oblivion,” a second darted.
“You are the problem. This is only going to get worse,” a third added.
Meanwhile, others were proud of OpenAI’s swiftness in addressing and correcting the issue, arguing that with technology today, people should get to “decide” how they’re represented.
That said, this wouldn’t be the first time King’s youngest daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King, would be vocal about how her father is depicted on the internet.
We reported earlier this year, when rap star Sexyy Redd created what Bernice called “intentionally distasteful, dishonoring, deplorable, and disrespectful” content of her dad. Needless to say, the “SkeeYee” star messed around and found out.
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