China's booming AI industry has given rise to an unusual new market: people being paid to license their faces for AI-generated entertainment. AI-generated microdramas are rapidly reshaping China's booming short-form entertainment industry. Producers are increasingly licensing real people's faces to make AI-generated characters look more distinctive and lifelike.
To achieve that, companies pay contributors for permission to use their facial likenesses to generate digital characters. Although the trend gives a new way for people to profit from their personal identities, it also sparks concerns about ownership and control. After a face is uploaded into an AI licensing platform, can its owner ever truly regain control?
