Hello Tracey and Everyone! My name is Crystal, I am originally from Los Angeles, California (born and raised native who now lives in the Deep South (Mississippi). It is a pleasure to be here in this Community Space with all of you!

This week’s AI update is a particularly interesting one for actors. A major gathering has just taken place here in France at The Lumière Summit in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, bringing together governments, filmmakers, actors, producers, studio heads and industry organisations from around the world. And AI was right at the centre of the conversation. What I find encouraging is that we seem to be moving beyond the rather exhausting “AI good / AI bad” argument. The conversation is becoming much more practical: AI is here. How do we use it without losing the human beings, human creativity and human performances our industry is built on? Here are the stories I think are worth your time this week. 🎭 1. A MAJOR NEW PRINCIPLE: HUMAN CREATION MUST REMAIN AT THE HEART OF FILM At the Lumière Summit on 7 September, representatives from across the international screen industry adopted the Lumière Declaration on the Future of Cinema and the Moving Image. And there is one line in it that really matters. The declaration acknowledges that AI can strengthen creativity, innovation and the circulation of work —while making it equally clear that human creation should remain at the heart and foundation of that work. For me, that's the balance. Use the technology. Learn what it can do. Let it help where it genuinely helps. But AI stays in its lane. The performance, the imagination, the storytelling and the creative choices still begin with human beings. 👉 Read the official Lumière Declaration: Lumière Declaration — Élysée Palace 🛡️ 2. MUCH MORE IMPORTANT FOR ACTORS: VOICE, LIKENESS, CONSENT AND PAYMENT Alongside the wider Lumière Declaration came a separate Saint-Paul-de-Vence Declaration on Artificial Intelligence. This gets much more specific. The principles include greater transparency around what material is used to train AI, identifying AI-generated or AI-altered content, and giving rights holders ways of knowing when their work has been used.