A frame from the animated series “Peppa Pig”. © Peppa Pig – Official Channel/YouTube Nearly a thousand industry professionals stated that children cannot give informed consent.
American company Hasbro has found itself at the center of a scandal due to new contract terms for children voicing characters in the animated series “Peppa Pig”. Industry representatives claim the company is demanding the transfer of rights to use children’s voices for artificial intelligence technologies, reports EuroNews.
According to Deadline, the new contracts stipulate that young voice actors must agree to the use of their voices by AI for “commercial assets within the franchise.” In essence, this could allow the company to clone children’s voices and utilize them in advertising and other projects indefinitely.
Nearly a thousand industry professionals have spoken out against this provision, signing an open letter initiated by the Agents of Young Performers Association (AYPA). While the letter does not mention the franchise or company by name, Deadline sources have indicated that “Peppa Pig” and Hasbro are the subjects.
“Recently, a major studio that owns intellectual property for an international children’s franchise, producing a long-running animated television series, offered contracts to child voice actors, insisting they agree to AI enabling them to use a child’s voice in all commercial assets within their franchise,” the open letter states.
The authors of the document emphasize that children are incapable of providing fully informed legal consent for such use of their voices. In their opinion, even parental or guardian permission should not serve as grounds for indefinite cloning, training of artificial intelligence models, or the reuse of a child’s voice.
“Any agreement involving a child’s voice must be completely free from any AI usage. No child should have their future professional identity shaped by an artificial intelligence model created before they are old enough to understand its implications,” the authors of the appeal note.
In a comment to Variety, Hasbro confirmed they are aware of the open letter. The company stated: “The protection of child performers is at the core of Hasbro. As industry standards for AI continue to evolve, we are committed to addressing this matter responsibly and transparently.”
“Peppa Pig” debuted in the UK in 2004 and has since become one of the most popular children’s franchises globally. In 2019, Hasbro acquired the brand from Entertainment One for $3.8 billion.
Last month, Hollywood stars including George Clooney, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep supported the open “Human Consent Standard” system to protect their identities from AI. The initiative, developed by Cate Blanchett’s organization, will allow creators to set rules or prohibitions for the use of their voices and likenesses through a special registry of digital declarations.