Natasha Lyonne took advantage of her time in front of tech leaders at the TIME100 AI Impact Dinner Monday, where she implored attendees to do more in reining in artificial intelligence.
Lyonne — who faced backlash over plans to use AI to help make her film, “Uncanny Valley,” earlier this year — reminded those in attendance that she sounded the alarm about growing AI concerns at the gala years ago, noting her speech was viewed as “inconsequential” at the time.
Yet, as Lyonne shared, her instincts were spot on — admitting she herself had been guilty on relying on AI.
“I fully went down the rabbit hole with you all,” she said. “I co-founded a studio with brilliant filmmakers and engineers, and we had the profound distinction of the first underlying licensed model of which I am deeply proud. I also had front seat access to the wider world of this wild west. And I’m not talking Tinsel Town and movies. I mean the real world. And boy, do I gotta say, I am quite shocked by the accelerated pace of our current situation.”
She continued: “For reasons unknown, we have willingly submitted to a full surveillance state, done away with all copyright law, agreed to data theft for illusory convenience, and, perhaps most egregiously, allowed for sweeping and irresponsible data farming in our working class communities — a clear and present danger to our environment and society. What are we doing, friends?”
As Lyonne went on, she called out the old saying, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and suggested it was time that tech leaders take that message into consideration.
“I believe we can wrestle some grace back here if we get unified around our shared humanity,” she added. “An optimist? In this economy? In this regime? And yet, here I stand humbly before you wanting to believe.”
Lyonne noted it wasn’t too late to “turn it around,” and advised AI leaders to “responsibly reassess” current regulation policies.
The Asteria Film Co. co-founder’s plea comes amid growing copyright concerns in Hollywood, especially following the release of OpenAI’s Sora 2. While CEO Sam Altman promised more control would be coming for rightsholders, many, including SAG-AFTRA, the Motion Picture Association and other industry leaders, have called out the app’s “opt-out” model.
On Thursday, SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the OpenAI app’s “opt-out” policy threatened “the economic foundation of our entire industry.”
“Opt-out isn’t consent — let alone informed consent,” they wrote in a memo. “That’s why SAG-AFTRA fights for opt-in approaches. No one’s creative work, image, likeness or voice should be used without affirmative, informed consent. Anything less is an unjustifiable violation of our rights.”
Watch Lyonne’s full speech above.
