Paramount Pictures
The company behind Transformers and GI Joe is working on a way to let people license its characters using AI, using original voice actors where possible.
Hasbro recently revealed that the company is using AI to help design new products. Now the corporation is launching an AI studio called Sixth Wall which will enable the firm’s huge roster of characters to be used by third parties in an official capacity.
Following frustration at seeing unofficial AI versions of its characters proliferate online, the company is endeavouring to take control of its IP.
That means the likes of Optimus Prime, Cobra Commander, and Mr. Potato Head could soon be offered up to licensees for “interactive storytelling experiences” and “location-based entertainment experiences.”
Hasbro reveals AI plans for beloved characters
Skybound
Sixth Wall CEO Roberta Thomson has spoken to The Hollywood Reporter about the plan, saying: “Every IP owner looks at all of the millions of unauthorized versions of their characters on other tech platforms and frontier models, and it’s not a great experience for fans, and it’s not on brand for us.
“So you have a few choices as an IP owner: You could decide to enforce on everything, whack-a-mole, or send a bunch of cease and desists. You could decide to enable the UGC directly with consumers… but the question we posed was, what if we just offered the authorized end-to-end blue check version of the character that a company could license from us?
“Then we can guarantee that they’re going to show up in a context that we already approve of and feel comfortable with, and show up in a way that is within the guardrails that we have set with the character.
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“Right now, all of our IP is sitting in static media, trapped in a toy on a shelf, a movie, a video game, but as these characters come to life and interact and speak in real-time, you have to govern their behavior, which is a different set of technical and brand challenges, and it’s that expertise that we’ve developed.”
Optimus Prime, Cobra Commander, and Mr. Potato Head part of initial slate
Hasbro
Hasbro has developed its own internal platform called CharacterOS that sets guardrails and personality traits for each character, and the initial slate includes Transformers Optimus Prime and Megatron, GI Joe’s Cobra Commander, characters from the Clue board game, and Mr. Potato Head.
The company is also planning to use real voice actors where possible, with Thomson stating, “We could have decided to move forward with synthetic voices, and all of the models give a good approximation of those voices because they’re out there, but it didn’t feel like the right thing to do.
“As we talked to the voice talent, we said very sincerely, ‘This should be a new source of revenue for you.’ Because these experiences are enabled by the technology, they’re dynamic, interactive, and personalized. They’re not replacing something that you would currently go into the studio for, like a long-form movie voiceover. So, we’re not going to use the voices for those purposes, but for something that wouldn’t have existed before.”
The idea for the licensee model is to cater to consumers 13 and over, with a focus on the audio marketplace, plus: “interactive storytelling experiences; conversational games and digital companions; connected physical products and robotics; AI-powered brand ambassadors; location-based entertainment experiences; and dynamic customer engagement agents.”
For more on the AI debate, check out the thoughts of Peter Jackson and Backroom director Kane Parsons, as well as controversies concerning AI creation Tilly Norwood, Megalopolis, Late Night With the Devil, Thunderbolts, True Detective, and the One Piece anime.
