{"id":560402,"date":"2026-06-29T19:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/560402\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:40:13","slug":"cate-blanchett-steven-soderbergh-nikki-hexum-on-human-consent-registry-and-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/560402\/","title":{"rendered":"Cate Blanchett, Steven Soderbergh, Nikki Hexum on Human Consent Registry and AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tCate Blanchett<\/a>, among her litany of talents and accolades, is aware she\u2019s not the savviest when it comes to technology. That doesn\u2019t mean she doesn\u2019t understand when technology begets a problem, particularly when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI know next to nothing about technology,\u201d she told Variety in an interview last week. \u201cBut I know a problem or a challenge when I see one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBlanchett has been outspoken about the issues arising from AI, and last week, she gave a presentation on the Human Consent Registry at the European Parliament. The registry is a free public utility tool that lets people create a record of how their name and likeness may be used by AI. The tool was created by RSL Media<\/a>, a non-profit cofounded by Blanchett that launched last month<\/a>, and its purpose is centered on the belief that your identity is your intellectual property, and every person should be able to dictate what can \u2014 and cannot \u2014\u00a0be scraped by AI models.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe challenge is [AI models] just keep splintering and breeding at such a rate, so I think we all feel a bit bamboozled by which part to tackle first,\u201c Blanchett said. \u201cWhat I loved about what RSL Media were doing and why I wanted to come on board is they were offering a really simple not-to-profit open standard, a solution, that people can go in when they\u2019re negotiating with whoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking before the European Parliament alongside Bulgarian member of parliament Eva Maydell, RSL Media co-founder Nikki Hexum<\/a> and Steven Soderbergh<\/a>, the Oscar-winning director who\u2019s an RSL Media supporter, Blanchett stressed the need for an open standard that protects how people\u2019s identities are adopted by AI tech. The company, whose abbreviation stands for \u201creally simple licensing,\u201d has garnered the support of some of the entertainment industry\u2019s boldest names, including Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and Javier Bardem. CAA also has joined the project as a partner.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the EU passed the Artificial Intelligence Act in 2023 and the U.S. has introduced bills such as the NO FAKES Act to combat AI-generated deepfakes,<\/a> there are few codified ways people can declare how AI can use their identity. Many of the companies that offer services to safeguard people\u2019s likenesses do so at a steep cost, requiring tens of thousands in a bid for individuals to secure their identity from AI\u2019s potential misappropriation. The situation has led celebrities including Taylor Swift<\/a> and Matthew McConaughey<\/a> to file for legal trademarks on their voice and image as legal protection against AI theft.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe registry aims to fill the gap through a free, centralized hub for people to declare and protect their likeness without the need for lawyers or such costly services, an endeavor its cofounders hope offers a standard that potential regulatory efforts on AI can be built.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf there\u2019s going to be a solution, it\u2019s got to be built on this kind of framework, otherwise you\u2019re going to create a tiered system in which some people have access to these rights and protections, and the people that can\u2019t pay don\u2019t,\u201d Soderbergh said in an interview. \u201cThat is exactly what we don\u2019t want, and so this to me is a really elegant solve. It\u2019s simple to use and simple to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe registry\u2019s genesis stemmed from Hexum\u2019s attempt to create an automation-forward record label that would \u201cremove middlemen\u201d who may exploit artists. But much of her work became issuing takedown notices to people misusing her artists\u2019 work, leaving her little time to build the code needed for the record label and highlighting how, online, there were few avenues for people to advocate for themselves and their work.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen the internet was built, nobody was sitting there thinking about, \u2018Oh, how are we going to decide who owns what?\u2019\u201d said Hexum, who called protecting likenesses \u201ca human right.\u201d \u201cIt was a decentralized online area where you could go and share with anybody, so there was a missing consent layer to the internet, and I don\u2019t think it became obvious that it was needed until AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUsers of the registry, which is open to the general public in the U.S. and the EU, can create a time-coded \u201cidentity\u201d record in which they provide their name, profession, a short description of their identity, and several link options to help verify who they are. The system then provided a traffic light-esque model, where users declare whether AI is prohibited from (red), permitted with terms (yellow) or permitted (green) to use that person\u2019s likeness.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe registry then produces code that\u2019s readable by AI models scraping the internet. Hexum said RSL Media has been introduced to OpenAI and Anthropic, whose ChatGPT and Claude chat models dominate the AI space, and the organization has spoken extensively with SAG-AFTRA and talent agencies about how to register their members. As the registry grows, RSL Media plans to expand it to encompass copyright-protected works such as books, music and films.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not whether AI should or shouldn\u2019t exist,\u201d Hexum said. \u201cIt\u2019s whether people have the ability to consent to being a part of that. Technology is here, it\u2019s not going away, and now it\u2019s just that core thing: \u2018Am I OK with it? If I am, cool. If I\u2019m not, I need a way, a practical way to say I don\u2019t want to be involved.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe initiative also marks a rare marriage of advocates both for and against the technology at a time when Hollywood\u2019s engagement with AI \u2014\u00a0whether through AI-generated actors such as Tilly Norwood<\/a>, fully generated films<\/a> or its use as a tool by some filmmakers<\/a> \u2014\u00a0remains a third rail. Blanchett has previously said she feared AI could be \u201cincredibly destructive\u201d<\/a> to the entertainment industry, while Soderbergh has been public<\/a> about his use of generative AI in films like \u201cJohn Lennon: The Last Interview\u201d and his upcoming Spanish-American War film starring Wagner Moura.<\/p>\n

\n\tBlanchett said <\/strong>she recognizes AI marks an \u201cinflection point\u201d in the industry and that she\u2019s \u201cfascinated\u201d by its potential as a tool for completing \u201ctedious tasks.\u201d But where she draws the line is at the \u201cthoughtless\u201d approach by some who believe \u201chuman consent is impeding your creativity,\u201d raising the risk of unauthorized use of people\u2019s voices and likenesses and necessitating \u201ccompromise and conversation\u201d in how it\u2019s adopted.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat pause is really important,\u201d she said. \u201cThat moment for breath and thought is a really important part of the creative process. When humans are forced to career along a path creatively trying to be in the slipstream of technology, then I think it\u2019s destructive and counterproductive,\u201d Blanchett said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd then there\u2019s this word called \u2018better,\u2019\u201d Soderbergh added. \u201cIs it better? Are you using this technology in a way that is allowing you to do something that you literally couldn\u2019t do otherwise? That criteria, \u2018is it better than every other option?\u2019 So, the Tilly Norwood thing simply comes down to the fact: Tell me, I\u2019m willing to be convinced. Tell me why it\u2019s better to have her than an actor. I\u2019m listening. I just don\u2019t know. Sitting here, I\u2019m not sure how I would think that that would be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe group recognizes that AI will continue to develop, as will the risk to how it portrays everyone from Oscar-winning celebrities to everyday people. But as companies iterate on the technology, RSL Media hopes to minimize concerns that safeguards like its free registry might dampen technological progress through its public-service minded approach and accessible nature. (Members of the European Parliament were enthused by the registry across party lines, Blanchett and Soderbergh said.)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis standard is not going to revolutionize our relationship overnight,\u201d Blanchett said. \u201cThe more people adopt it, the more chance it has of making a real impact. But we do have to start somewhere, because thoughtlessness is the enemy of creativity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHer call to action is simple: The registry is free, and anyone can use it. \u201cPreschools and universities can use it. It\u2019s free,\u201d Blanchett stressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLearn more about the registry here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cate Blanchett, among her litany of talents and accolades, is aware she\u2019s not the savviest when it comes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,289,290,27217,18,19,17,239530,210762,39012,82],"class_list":["post-560402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-cate-blanchett","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nikki-hexum","tag-rsl-media","tag-steven-soderbergh","tag-technology"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116835098764069234","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}