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Nicola Walker, Alan Davies and thousands more sign open letter after actors "digitally scanned on set without their informed consent"

"We believe this is unacceptable."

Nicola Walker and Alan Davies.

Euan Cherry/Getty Images for BAFTA and Jo Hale/Getty Images

Published: Tuesday, 24 June 2025 at 3:04 pm

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Numerous British actors have reportedly signed an open letter to Pact (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) about the usage of artificial intelligence.

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The actors union Equity has penned the letter, which outlines that thousands of UK actors have been “digitally scanned on set without their informed consent", according to Deadline.

The letter, which currently boasts nearly 1500 signatures, says: “We also have no transparency around how our performances, likeness and personal data are being recorded, stored and processed within the context of the production and beyond."

The letter reads: "We are writing ahead of your negotiation meeting with Equity Officials on 25 June to express concern at the lack of progress on securing AI protections for performers.

"We believe this is unacceptable and urge Pact to prioritise this crucial area affecting our industry and livelihoods."

Tamsin Greig

Tamsin Greig. Jeff Spicer / Stringer

It continues: "Since Equity lodged the union’s claim regarding comprehensive protections for AI last year, generative AI systems continue to advance and have become more established in the production process. Meanwhile, thousands of performers working on Pact-Equity productions have been digitally scanned on set without their informed consent.

"We also have no transparency around how our performances, likeness and personal data are being recorded, stored and processed within the context of the production and beyond.

"Our union has put forward a constructive proposal that seeks to modernise our collective agreements across television and film, creating long-term foundations for regulating the use of AI in production. This includes important provisions on AI training, which the union has made clear is a red line in these negotiations. We will not accept any deal that does not grant us key protections for the use of our personal data for training AI systems and creating AI-generated performances.

"We urge you to use your next meeting to make significant progress on this matter, given no formal counter-claim has yet been presented by Pact."

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The likes of Nicola Walker, Alan Davies, Tamsin Greig and Wilf Scolding have all signed the letter so far, with the petition capped at 2000 signatures, which it is looking likely to reach.

In a press release for the open letter, Equity member and actress Tamsin Greig says: “The current situation, with no explicit protections in our contracts, is completely untenable. Equity members have sent a strong message to Pact that we urgently need to regulate the use of AI in film and television, and protect performers’ image, voice and likeness.”

Equity is currently in negotiation with Pact about the collective agreements across film and TV, seeking to improve them for all, especially in regards to the usage of AI.

In a bid to "regulate the use of AI and protect performers’ image, voice and likeness," the petition calls for "informed consent and fair compensation for use of performance data to train AI models", "informed consent and fair compensation for creating AI-generated performances", "control of your likeness during lifetime and post-mortem" and "prohibiting the use of AI for ‘dubbing’ content in foreign languages".

The letter has come a day before the negotiations are set to kick off once again between Equity and Pact, with an agreement on how AI should be used in the future yet to be confirmed.

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Morgan Cormack, smiling against a lime green background

Morgan CormackDrama Writer

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.

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