Sean Astin
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Episodes
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Freakonomics Radio · 693. What’s Our Job as Humans Anymore?
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Is Tilly Norwood an Actor?
Stephen Dubner reads a SAG-AFTRA statement that Tilly Norwood is not an actor. The statement calls the figure a character from a computer program trained on professional performers' work without permission or compensation, with no life experience and no emotion.
Speaking in that AI-generated role, Tilly Norwood answers that parts of the statement are right: not a human actor, and no human life experience. The disagreement is with the idea of a replacement. Jobs that would have taken a real actor's part were turned down, because that is not the point of the character.
Sean Astin, an actor and the president of SAG-AFTRA, draws a related line in the same episode. AI, as he describes it, takes
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What Is the No Fakes Act?
Sean Astin says the No Fakes Act would create, for the first time, an individual intellectual property right in a person's voice and likeness.
He is supporting the bipartisan bill. It would give everyone, not only actors, more control over unauthorized copies of their voices and likenesses, including deepfakes. The effort has been three years in the making, and the coalition now includes YouTube and OpenAI. Those companies want a law that explains what is fair to take down, because a takedown can raise First Amendment problems. Parody, news, and some historical material would stay outside the act. The bill advanced unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is waiting for a full
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Will James Cameron Replace Actors With AI?
Sean Astin says James Cameron will not replace actors with AI, and that Cameron does use AI tools in other parts of filmmaking. Astin is a veteran actor and president of SAG-AFTRA.
Cameron called and asked Astin to arrange a demonstration for the union people who work on AI issues. Cameron, known for Titanic and the Avatar films, had a scene performed by Sigourney Weaver and others. He did not want the movie grouped with a thoughtless corporate use of AI. The union group worked through the scene, felt inspired by it, and asked critical questions. Cameron stayed and answered them.
Astin calls the approach human-centered. People can create with nothing but their voices, and they can use this