25/06/2026 - 10:01 GMT+2
Every major technological revolution brings unpredictable, hard-to-accept consequences, often only recognised when it is already too late to act. In the case of unstoppable artificial intelligence, the debate among artists no longer revolves around whether it should exist or be used, but around how to protect themselves from it.
Javier Bardem has repeatedly spoken out about his rejection of this technology because of what he sees as its vast capacity to manipulate reality. He has therefore joined Cate Blanchett and other Hollywood stars including Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren, Kristen Stewart, George Clooney, Viola Davis and Tom Hanks in backing a new online tool where any artist can register the degree of consent they give for their face, voice, movements or even ideas to be transformed by AI.
The platform, of which Blanchett is a co-founder alongside Nikki Hexum, Doug Leeds and Eckart Walther, is called rslmedia.org and acts as a human consent identifier.
Artists or content creators simply have to sign up to verify their identity and state their level of consent, organised into three colour-coded tiers: green, permitted; yellow, use allowed under certain conditions, such as payment; and red, prohibited. In this way it creates a database of practical information that machines can use on a large scale.
