Tom Hanks and Robin Williams’ Daughter Voiced Concerns about AI

Tom Hanks and Zelda Williams, among others in Hollywood, are concerned about consent and authenticity in the advancement of AI technologies.

Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and Zelda Williams, daughter of the late comedian Robin Williams, added their voices to the ongoing concern around artificial intelligence (AI) and its use in Hollywood including deepfakes.

Over the past weekend, Hanks posted on Instagram warning his followers of a circulating advertisement for a dental plan, seemingly endorsed by him, but it was created through deepfake, and this “AI version” of the actor has nothing to do with Hanks and did not gain his approval. Hanks has shared his thoughts on AI in May, stating, “I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but my performances can go on and on and on … There'll be nothing to tell you that it's not me and me alone and it's going to have some degree of lifelike quality… That’s certainly an artistic challenge but it’s also a legal one”. 

Parallelly, Zelda Williams expressed her disdain for AI recreations, especially those that attempt to mimic her late father's voice, which are “personally disturbing”. Her recent Instagram story underscored these problematic creations, labeling them at best as "a poor facsimile of greater people" and at worst, "a horrendous Frankensteinian monster." Director Tim Burton has also publically critiqued AI’s encroachment into the industry, as he evocatively described AI recreations as akin to "robots taking your humanity, your soul."

While the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has officially ended their strike, the attention continues to be drawn to actors' union strike that aims for the protection of their work and likeliness. The SAG-AFTRA with its 160,000 members is fighting for more stringent regulations on AI usage, especially against the potential for AI tools to replace human performers. A notable proposal, rejected in June, would have permitted studios to use AI-generated replicas of background actors indefinitely after a single day’s compensation.

The world has already seen the successful experiments of AI tools in filmmaking including the digital de-aging of Harrison Ford in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’, and the posthumous recreation of Carrie Fisher for ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’. It might make the conversations more complicated but also reminds us that the dialogue around consent, authenticity, and ethics is more crucial than ever in the age of AI.