Joy Behar, a longtime co-host of "The View," clashed with her colleague Sunny Hostin over the latter's decision to license her image to an artificial intelligence company. Behar expressed concern that such agreements contribute to job displacement for human professionals in the entertainment industry.
The disagreement unfolded on air when Hostin, a lawyer and author, explained her partnership with Fountain 0, an AI startup. Hostin stated that the company recently released a film at the Tribeca Film Festival, which utilized AI for actors, sets, and cameras, entirely replacing human talent. Hostin, 57, described her motivation for the partnership, citing difficulties in bringing her own written works to screen due to perceived gatekeeping in Hollywood, particularly for Black and brown creative content.
"AI cuts out the gatekeeping. You get to make your film. You get to have a director," Hostin explained, noting that actors are generated rather than employed. She also revealed that her own image has been licensed to the company and she may appear in AI form in future productions. "I may appear but in all seriousness it's a way to go to a streamer and say here's the product, will you license it, will you show it? It's a way, I think, to get black and brown stories told," Hostin said.
Behar, 83, countered Hostin's points, asking how using AI-generated individuals helps the Black community if it prevents real people from working. "Those people are in fact robots. How does that help the black community? Because the real people are not working," Behar stated. Hostin argued that the issue is not her involvement but the studios' reluctance to produce these projects, asserting that AI offers a pathway for diverse stories to be told.
Behar questioned the ethical implications of Hostin's deal, but Hostin maintained that her aim is to see diverse narratives brought to audiences. "But I'm not the person putting them out of work because the studios just won't make these projects," Hostin responded.
Hostin signed her AI licensing agreement on August 27. In a statement at the time, she expressed excitement about bringing her novels to life through film and television, with her own image integrated into the productions. "This entire generational innovation in filmmaking from Fountain 0 gives me confidence that AI can give me a way to both more fully develop, and more fully immerse myself in, [intellectual property] I have developed," Hostin said. She launched her own production company, Roots & Wings Productions, in May 2021, with several projects in development.