Kristen Bell told Instagram to ‘get rid of AI’ before she became its official voice

Meta has cut deals for high-profile actors to lend their voices to its Meta AI chatbot, with Kristen Bell among the initial set of voices. Bell lending her voice is a bit of a surprise. Back in June, she openly expressed opposition to Meta’s AI using her data.

She reposted a popular Instagram message declaring that she refused to consent to Meta using her content and likeness for training large language models and demanding that Instagram “get rid of the AI program.”

The prompt claims that by reposting, users deny Meta permission to use their personal data for these purposes. Celebrities such as Jessica Chastain, Sarah Paulson, and Ashley Tisdale have reposted a recent version of this prompt — even though reposting it doesn’t opt you out.

This unease is thanks to a June update to Meta’s terms of service, which allow the company to use posts, images, and online tracking data to train its Llama 3 AI model. You can opt out through a series of settings, just not via a post to Instagram.

AI’s role in creative industries has sparked intense debate, with the entertainment union SAG-AFTRA fighting to ensure their members aren’t replaced by AI without consent and working with the state of California to pass AI bills that limit AI actor clones. But artists and actors aren’t necessarily against the technology itself — they just want to be fairly compensated. In Meta’s case, The Wall Street Journal reports that the actors were paid millions for their contributions.

Meta’s and Bell’s representatives did not respond to The Verge’s requests for comment.