In an AI World, XR Makes Sure Actors Get Paid for Digital Characters

Artificial intelligence is pushing change in the advertising industry and affecting different businesses in unexpected ways.

Generative AI is being used in the production of commercials and in some cases, advertisers are using AI-generated performers. This is designed to make the process move faster, and in some cases reduce costs, but those performers still need to be paid.

XR, the company that handles payments to celebrities who appear in commercials, has created a system for paying AI-generated performers to comply with the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract.

AI is being used to create on-screen characters in different ways. In some cases, real performers – dead or alive – are recreated in ads. Sometimes their ages are changed, famous scenes from their films are recreated or they’re put in situations that would be difficult to film. In other cases, performers are made from whole digital cloth.

The new SAG-AFTRA pact defines Digital Replicas as AI-generated or AI-modified performances tied to a real performer. In those cases, XR's platform handles payments to performers or their estates under existing SAG-AFTRA schedules as if they had appeared in the ad in-person. The estates of deceased performers must approve the use of digital replicas in commercials.

When the AI-generated performer has no connection to a real person, living or deceased, that’s considered a Synthetic Performer. In those cases, the contract calls for XR to send the compensation a human actor would have gotten to the SAG-AFTRA Pension and Health fund.

The use of AI to create replicas of celebrities and synthetic performers was a key point of contention during the last round of labor negotiations.

AI generated characters are already starting to appear in commercials. According to early findings from an upcoming XR survey of marketers, 22% are already experimenting with both digital replicas and synthetic performers.

“We’re seeing a growing need in the market to be able to accommodate this,” said Graham McKenna, CMO at XR.

“We’re known in the industry for paying actors, talent, celebrities,” said McKenna. “What we’re announcing is an expansion of that to cover what we’re calling AI-enabled talent that are going to be appearing in advertising more and more, beginning now and into the future.”

XR’s platform is addressing the adoption of AI in production by embedding AI performer classification and payment logic directly into existing workflows. This enables brands, agencies and production partners to scale AI usage. Additionally, XR Metadata will classify Digital Replicas and Synthetic Performers, ensuring talent rights are tracked from production to ad delivery.

“AI is going to fundamentally change how celebrities and synthetic talent are portrayed in advertising, and agencies, brands, and talent agents must be ready to support this shift,” said Tim Hale, Managing Director, XR Pay. “The rules around Digital Replicas and Synthetic Performers are new territory for everyone in advertising and XR is here to help our brand and agency clients navigate this complexity, ensuring celebrity rights are protected, everyone gets paid correctly, and that all SAG-AFTRA obligations are met.”

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At a time when TV still battles the perception that websites can take credit for sales when people buy online, a new report from tvScientific says TV ads do drive consumer activity. tvScientific, which focuses on connected TV, last year agreed to be acquired by Pinterest.

According to a multigenerational study based on responses from more than 600 people, 65% of consumers have made a purchase after seeing a TV ad.

“TV isn’t just memorable; it’s a direct driver of purchase behavior. And the immediate response to TV ads is overwhelmingly action-oriented: search, site visits and research,” says the company’s Consumer Trends Report, subtitled How TV Shapes Modern Behavior.

The survey found that after seeing a TV ad, 60% of respondents said they searched for the brand, 47% visited the website and 42% looked up reviews.

TV stands out as a trusted, high-attention environment in a fragmented media landscape, helping amplify the impact of other media channels, according to the report, which notes that 50% of consumers say TV ads help them feel more confident before buying.

The report says that viewers consume several media and that TV ads have gravity, with 47% saying they pay more attention to ads on TV than on their phone, and 50% saying TV ads feel more premium than ads on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X. A little more than half said TV ads are more credible than social ads.

This credibility only strengthens as consumers encounter brands across multiple channels, the report says.

While 42% of consumers say seeing a brand on TV makes them trust it more, 43% say seeing a brand on TV makes them trust it more when they see it again on social.

The ads that are most memorable feature humor, according to 77% of respondents, with 26% saying they remember emotional storytelling, 23% citing celebrity cameos, 21% product demos and 20% limited time offers.

“Clarity and simplicity outperform everything else when it comes to driving action. And streaming apps are now the premier advertising environment, with 36% of consumers saying that ads perform the best in streaming apps over cable TV, live streaming and free ad-supported streaming,” the report says.

tvScientific says that TV is evolving from a one-way medium to an interactive one.

“Younger generations are leading the shift, but ads, and the appetite for interactivity is growing across the board,” according to the report, which found that 40% want ads personalized to recent searches or purchases, 33% want live shopping during sports and events, 33% want click-to-learn-more remote ads, 32% want shoppable pause ads and 28% want QR code enabled ads.