Good morning.
I'm Eleanor Noble, the national president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to this committee on behalf of the 30,000 members of our union. With me today is Marie Kelly, our national executive director. She's here with me to address any questions you may have.
For 80-plus years, ACTRA has represented professional performers across Canada who bring Canadian stories to life. We play a vital role in a nearly $14-billion industry that generates 240,000 jobs a year. We came to this committee today because we are concerned about the use of artificial intelligence and similar technologies in our industry.
To be clear, there are some positives to the adoption of technology in our industry when used responsibly. That said, our members are increasingly concerned about the unbridled and unmitigated use of AI in our industry and outside of it, which has the potential to significantly and harmfully impact our ability to work and make a living in the screen industry.
Last year, we undertook a comprehensive survey of our members about the impact of AI. Outside of collective bargaining, we have never had more responses to a member survey. Let me share with you some of the high-level takeaways: 98% of ACTRA performers are concerned about the potential misuse of their name, image and likeness by AI; 93% of respondents are concerned that AI will eventually replace human actors, beginning with background work and dubbing.
We have seen real examples of harmful use already. It was brought to ACTRA's attention last year that the voice of one of ACTRA's minor performers—underage performers—was uploaded to an AI text-to-speech voices list on a public website that allowed users to manipulate her voice to say crude, R-rated things. This is a minor, I'll remind you. This is unacceptable.
Similarly, an ACTRA performer on a video game was downloaded by players and, with the use of AI, their voice and game character were manipulated to say obscene things and to perform sexual acts, all without the knowledge or consent of the actor. This was accessible online for two years before the actor became aware, at which point ACTRA was contacted to step in.
These are just two examples of the harmful manipulations that performers—and, frankly, many Canadians—face. I think we can agree as Canadians that these are extremely harmful violations. We—you—have an opportunity to take action in this bill to protect us, and we are asking you to do so.
We are pleased that the government is reviewing the impact of AI in a multi-faceted manner. We believe it's important to update the privacy regime in Canada and to put a framework in place to ensure AI developers and deployers must take action to mitigate the potential for harm from their technologies.
We want to congratulate the government on bringing Bill C-27 forward and, in particular, we support your intention to ensure that consent is required for the use of biometric information, including a performer's name, image and likeness. Clarity around informed consent, we hope, will help in our work to ensure the industry does not ambush performers into signing away their rights.
This committee must push this bill further to clarify the type of harm performers experience on an all-too-regular basis. Not only is AI causing personal harm to performers like me, but it also risks our livelihoods and reputations. In the entertainment business, our reputation—including our name, image and likeness—is all we have. We are the brand, which we protect. The difference between getting a job one day and not getting one the next can come down to the most minute things, including one's reputation.
Sadly, reputational harm is not currently encompassed by Bill C-27. The definition of harm to include “psychological harm” or “economic loss to an individual” does not sufficiently encompass the reputational harm we experience. Due to the nature of our business, we might not be able to show an exact circumstance of work lost due to a deepfake or manipulation, but there is no doubt that damage to a performer's reputation means real and tangible loss for our careers.
We have submitted to this committee our proposed language to rectify this gap under the legislation. We strongly urge this committee to amend the definition of harm to ensure that performers' rights are protected under this bill.
Finally, the government must take action to amend other statutes to mitigate the harm of AI on Canadian performers. Specifically, we believe that the Copyright Act is fundamentally biased against performers by not ascribing a moral right to their work. We urge this committee to take action, either through this bill or with haste elsewhere, to protect Canadian performers. We understand that the upcoming budget bill may contain amendments to the Copyright Act, and we ask that you raise with the Minister of Finance the urgency of the need to provide moral rights to performers in it, as musicians have.
Committee members, we recognize that this bill is only scratching the surface of the public policy tools the government has on this file. We urge you to take us seriously. Our sector is an economic driver in this country, with real workers who strive to make a living and contribute to our Canadian cultural life. We need you, as legislators, to ensure that we can be protected and can continue to work today and into the future.
Thank you. Marie and I would be happy to take any of your questions.