They sold their image to AI - and regret it

South Korean actor Simon Lee was stunned when he was seen his appearance – sometimes as a gynecologist or surgeon – to promote dubious health on tapping and Instagram. He is one of people who has licensed their image to AI marketing companies, and then ends with the unpleasant surprise to see themselves in deep subjects, questionable advertising or even political propaganda. “If it was a nice ad, it would have been good for me. But of course it is such a scam,” he told AFP, adding that the conditions of his contract prevented him from removing the videos. The result was that he left himself with his digital clone that advocated for lemon balms to lose weight or ice baths to fight acne. AI technology-good buyer than filming actors, but more realistic than a whole Ai-generated avatar set of businesses able to build catalogs of digital models in videos that mostly promote products or services. Solene Vas-cattle, a digital communications and AI consultant, said this new form of advertising is fast and cheap compared to actual production. The use of avatars is also a way for brands to show that they are comfortable with the new tools. ” The method is quick and simple: half a day’s shooting, green screen and a telprompant. The actor must show different emotions, which enable the artificial intelligence to make the avatar say all kinds of things, in an infinite number of languages. “The performance in terms of the expressiveness of a real human-voice, facial movements, body language … is still better than anything that AI can raise now,” says Alexandru Voica, head of corporate affairs at Synthesia, a leader in the British industry. To make a video, the customers of the platform just have to select a face, a language, a tone – such as serious or playful – and insert the screenplay. The whole process comes at a modest price: The ultra-basic version is free, while the pro-version costs a few hundred euros. Depending on the duration and how well a person is known, the contracts offer up to a few thousand euros. But they can be filled with legal jargon and sometimes abusive clauses, and in their rush to earn cash quickly, some people have found it difficult to fully understand what they are signing up for. That was the case of Adam Coy, a 29-year-old actor and director in New York, who sold his image, was a financial decision. In October 2024 he signed the rights on his face and voted to MCM for $ 1000 (885 euros), which the company granted the use of its avatar for one year. “If I was more successful, I felt like I might have the ethical conversation with myself,” he said. “Is that right, or do I cross a line by doing it?” A few months later, his mother’s mother encountered videos in which his digital clone claims to have come from the future and announced disasters to come. None of this is prohibited by the contract, which only prohibits use for pornographic purposes, or in connection with alcohol and tobacco. Coy described the experience of his avatar as ‘surreal’ and said he initially thought he would be an animated avatar. But “it’s decent money for little work,” he added. British actor and model Connor Yeates, who signed a three -year contract with Synthesia for 4600 euros, also received an unpleasant surprise in 2022. He was sleeping on a friend’s bench at the time, he told the British newspaper in 2024. It looked like a ‘good opportunity’. But he then discovered that his image was used to promote Ibrahim Traore, the president of Burkina Faso, who took power in a coup in 2022. “A few videos have partly hurled our content moding, partly because there was a gap in our maintenance of factual but polarization -type content or videos with exaggerated claims or propaganda,” says Voica, head of corporate matters at Synthesia. The firm said it has set up new procedures, but that other platforms have appeared since then, some of which apply far less strict rules. An AFP journalist could make an avatar out of one of these platforms, says outrageous things. “The clients I worked with did not fully understand what they agreed to at the time,” said Alyssa Malchiodi, a lawyer specializing in the business path. “One important red flag is the use of broad, perpetual and irrevocable language that gives the company full ownership or unlimited rights to use a Creator’s voice, image and image on any medium,” she said. Contracts often contain clauses that are considered abusive, Malchiodi said, such as worldwide, unlimited, irrevocable exploitation, without any right to withdrawal. “Technology is developing faster than courts or lawmakers can respond,” the lawyer said. “It’s not invented faces,” she says, asking for more caution. Dou/GGY/JC/DJT/JM