California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills into law on Tuesday that aim to help actors and performers protect their digital replicas in audio and visual productions from artificial intelligence (AI), the governor's office said.

While the presence of AI in the entertainment industry can be traced back to decades ago, recent groundbreaking advances in generative AI, with robots now making music as digital pop stars, have divided opinions in the industry.

Performers fear AI will make theft of their likenesses common and many experts have raised legal and ethical concerns.

One of the bills Newsom signed "requires contracts to specify the use of AI-generated digital replicas of a performer's voice or likeness, and the performer must be professionally represented in negotiating the contract," his office said.

The other bill "prohibits commercial use of digital replicas of deceased performers in films, TV shows, video games, audiobooks, sound recordings and more, without first obtaining the consent of those performers' estates," the statement from Newsom's office added.

More broadly, the rise of AI has fed a host of other concerns as well, including the fear that it could be used to disrupt the democratic process, turbocharge fraud or lead to job loss.

Democratic US President Joe Biden's administration has pressed lawmakers for AI regulation, but a polarised US Congress, where Republicans control the House of Representatives and Democrats control the Senate, has made little headway in passing effective regulation.

In March, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed a bill into law that aimed to protect artists, including musicians, from unauthorised use by artificial intelligence.

  - Reuters