In an interview on the NXT Chapter Podcast, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King’s youngest child, Bernice King, broke down how she was able to get OpenAI to stop users from generating images of her late father.
“I just had a situation with OpenAI… My father’s image was misused,” she explained, as seen in the clip above. “And OpenAI didn’t necessarily do it, but they didn’t also think about the guard rails that were needed in advance. So, when me and John Hope Bryant were talking about this, I said, ‘Hey this Sam [Altman], let’s just reach out.’ People on social media wanted me to speak out, [and] in that instance I needed to use my influence inside, which I did, and it made a tremendous different and help set the stage for other historic figures and how that’s used.”
Since the proliferation of generative AI models, such as Sora and ChatGPT, people have used them to generate outrageous images of historical figures. Rightfully so, King felt the need to protect the image of her father, one of the most famous civil rights icons in modern history.
“I want people to understand that there is power in your influence,” she continued. “Look, I’m for marching, I’m for demonstrating, but I think we missed a very important aspect of the movement that people don’t know about. That’s why we do the work we do at the King Center, teaching people about Kingian non-violence… Sometimes we can call people behind the scenes, even if people have to be in the streets.”
Last year, OpenAI announced that it would be pausing people from making AI videos of MLK Jr. on its Sora app. “While there are strong free speech interests in depicting historical figures, OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used,” read the statement. “Authorized representatives or estate owners can request that their likeness not be used in Sora cameos.”
In its statement, the company confirmed that Bernice King reached out on behalf of her late father.