前《邻居》演员和工作人员对利用人工智能重新剪辑旧素材、为手机观众制作微型剧集的计划表示担忧。
Former Neighbours actors and crew have raised concerns about plans to use AI to re-edit old footage and make mini episodes for mobile phone viewers.
作为现已停播的澳大利亚电视肥皂剧《邻居》的制作公司，弗里蒙特已与美国公司RoseBerry Media合作开展该项目，将利用人工智能“扫描数十年的剧集”，帮助制作短竖屏视频。
Fremantle, producer of the now-defunct Australian TV soap opera, has partnered with US-based RoseBerry Media for the project that will use AI to "scan decades of episodes" and help make short vertical videos.
2008年至2011年饰演唐娜·弗里德曼的玛格特·罗比的素材将是该微型剧集的初始焦点。
Footage of Margot Robbie, who played Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011, will be the initial focus of the micro-drama.
两家公司表示，这一举措将把该剧——去年播出最后一集——带给新观众。但一些演员和工作人员称，他们未同意自己的肖像、声音或作品被重新利用。罗比尚未公开回应。BBC已联系其代理机构征求评论。
Both companies say the move will bring the show - which aired its final episode last year - to new audiences. But some actors and crew say they have not consented to their images, voice or work to be re-purposed. Robbie has yet to respond publicly. The BBC has contacted her agency for comment.
该项目背后的公司在一份声明中表示，人工智能辅助技术将“扫描数十年的剧集，绘制人物弧光、故事情节和精彩时刻，帮助编辑快速识别最佳素材”。
In a statement, the companies behind the project said the AI-assisted technology will "scan decades of episodes to map character arcs, storylines and standout moments, helping editors quickly identify the strongest material".
据弗里蒙特发言人称，微型剧集将使用“原始、此前已播出的素材、对话和表演”。
The micro-drama episodes will use "original, previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances", according to Fremantle spokesman.
“它不会生成新场景或表演，不会改变演员的面容或肖像，也不会使用合成声音，”他表示，并补充说，一名人类编辑将“审查并批准剪辑过程的每个阶段”。
"It does not generate new scenes or performances, alter actors' faces or likenesses, or use synthetic voices," he said, adding that a human editor would be "reviewing and approving every stage of the editing process".
这些微型剧集很可能会出现34岁的马特·韦克迈斯特，他于2005年13岁时加入《邻居》剧组。他饰演常驻角色泽克·金斯基，并与罗比饰演的角色共演了许多场景。
The mini episodes will likely feature Matt Werkmeister, 34, who joined the set of Neighbours in 2005 when he was 13 years old. He played a regular character, Zeke Kinski and shared many scenes with Robbie's character.
现居墨尔本的制片人兼导演韦克迈斯特表示，他未接到微型剧集背后公司的联系，并对这些剧集将呈现什么内容感到担忧。
Now a Melbourne-based producer and director, Werkmeister says he hasn't been approached by the companies behind the micro-drama and is concerned what the episodes will feature.
“如果他们要根据已有内容创作一部新的微型剧集，我认为使用我们的肖像和声音以及编剧的作品，都需要获得同意，”他说。
"If they're creating a new micro-drama out of something that already exists, I feel there needs to be consent for using our image and voice as well as the writers," he said.
沃克迈斯特表示，罗比“显然是个很有吸引力的人物”，而且“看以前看过的节目片段挺不错的”，但他在二十年前签合同时，“流媒体甚至还没有作为一种平台存在”，所以他不确定自己拥有哪些权利。
Robbie is "obviously a big draw card" and "it's nice to watch old clips from shows you used to watch," Werkmeister said, but when he signed his contract two decades ago, "streaming didn't even exist as a platform" so he's unsure of what his rights are.
这种不确定性也是萨姆·克拉克最关心的问题。2006年至2010年，他在《邻居》中饰演林戈·布朗，这个角色后来与罗比的虚构角色结婚。
That uncertainty is also at the forefront of Sam Clark's mind. He played Ringo Brown on Neighbours from 2006 to 2010, a character who later marries Robbie's fictional character.
克拉克现在在洛杉矶从事制片人和配音演员的工作。他在洛杉矶接受采访时说，直到一位朋友给他发了一篇文章，他才知道这部微短剧。
Speaking from Los Angeles, Clark – now working as a producer and voice actor - said he hadn't heard about the micro-drama until a friend sent him an article.
39岁的克拉克说：“只要不是被操纵成新的故事情节，我对我们多年前的作品获得第二次生命没有负面看法。”
"I don't have a negative view of the work that we did all those years ago getting a second life as long as it's not being manipulated into new storylines," Clark, 39, said.
“我20年前签合同时，人工智能和社交媒体显然还不存在，所以我仍在努力弄清楚这些参数到底是什么。”68岁的录音师布鲁斯·芬德利在电视行业工作了近50年，从第一集起就参与《邻居》的制作，这部剧在他心中有着“特殊的位置”。
"AI and social media obviously wasn't a thing when I signed my contract 20 years ago so I'm still trying to understand exactly what those parameters are." Sound recordist Bruce Findlay, 68, has worked in the TV industry for close to five decades and Neighbours has a "special place" in his heart, having worked on the show from episode one.
用人工智能从旧素材中制作短剧，“就像把毕加索的画切碎再重新拼起来”。
Using AI to help make short episodes from old footage was "like cutting up a Picasso and rebuilding it".
“我们花了那么多心血才做出这个作品……现在他们把它切成小碎片，抛向空中，再用人工智能重新拼起来——这贬低了整个制作过程。”
"We worked so hard to get this product out… and now they're chopping it up into little tiny pieces, throwing it up in the air and putting it back together again using AI - it belittles the process".
玫瑰莓媒体负责人盖伊·哈梅里表示，该项目是公司首次使用内部人工智能工具筛选《邻居》的素材——该剧共有9300多集——以制作“优质竖屏电视”。
Guy Hameiri, head of RoseBerry Media, said the project is the first time the company will use its in-house AI tool to sift through Neighbours footage - there are more than 9,300 episodes - to make "premium vertical television".
他说，该项目将对素材进行“重新构想”，赋予其“新的受众、新的相关性和新的价值”。
The project will "reimagine" the material, giving it "new audiences, new relevance and new value," he said.
弗里曼特尔商业和国际部门负责人延斯·里希特称该项目“是一个令人兴奋的例子，展示了技术和创造性思维如何从我们的片库中释放新的价值”。
The head of Fremantle's commercial and international arm, Jens Richter, has called the project "an exciting example of how technology and creative thinking can unlock new value" from their catalogue.
据了解，弗里曼特尔正就此问题与两家工会进行讨论，并且会支付剩余报酬——即演员和编剧的作品重播或联合播出时获得的持续付款——但这不适用于剧组人员。其中一家工会“媒体、娱乐与艺术联盟”证实了相关谈判。
It's understood that Fremantle is in discussions with two unions on the issue and that residuals - ongoing payments for actors and writers when their work is re-aired or syndicated - will be paid, but this does not apply to crew. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, one of the unions, confirmed the talks.
该联盟代理首席执行官亚当·波尔泰利表示：“在工人的肖像或专业技能被以他们几十年前签订合同时根本无法预料的方式使用之前，应当先征求工人的意见。”
"Workers should be consulted before their likeness or expertise is used in a way they could never had envisioned when they signed contracts decades ago," said MEAA's acting CEO Adam Portelli.