Zelda Williams called AI replications of her father, Robin Williams, “disturbing.".Photo:John Shearer/WireImage
John Shearer/WireImage
Robin Williams’ daughter, Zelda, is taking a hard stance against artificial intelligence in Hollywood.
The actress and director, 34, shared a post on her Instagram Stories on Sunday criticizing nonconsensual AI replications of her late father — a hot-button issue central to the ongoingSAG-AFTRA strike— and urging people to protect actors’ likenesses.
She went on to say that she has “witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like dad.”
Robin, the influential actor-comedian and Oscar winner forGood Will Hunting,died in 2014.
Zelda Williams and Robin Williams in 2009.Jason Merritt/Getty
Jason Merritt/Getty
“This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real,” she continued. “I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”
She added, “Living actors deserve a chance to create characters with their choices, to voice cartoons, to put their HUMAN effort and time into the pursuit of performance.”
“These recreations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people, but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for,” she concluded.
On Saturday,Tom Hanksdealt with the ramifications of AI firsthand, taking to social media toconfirm that an AI version of himself circulating online is not, in fact, him.
“BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me.” Hankswroteover a photo of his AI counterpart from the video. “I have nothing to do with it.”
TheElvisstar previously addressed the growing use of AI in the creative industries during a May episode ofThe Adam Buxton Podcast, in which he said that “this has always been lingering.”
“The first time we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer — literally what we looked like — was a movie calledThe Polar Express,” he explained.
“We saw this coming,” he continued. “We saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. Now that has only grown a billionfold since then, and we see it everywhere.”
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Earlier this month,Tim Burtonalsospoke out against “disturbing” AI imitations.
“They had AI do my versions of Disney characters!” Burton told the outlet. “I can’t describe the feeling it gives you. It reminded me of when other cultures say, ‘Don’t take my picture because it is taking away your soul.’”
TheEdward Scissorhandsdirector admitted some of the recreations were good, but said he didn’t appreciate seeing his distinct style mimicked.
“What it does is it sucks something from you,” he said. “It takes something from your soul or psyche; that is very disturbing, especially if it has to do with you. It’s like a robot taking your humanity, your soul.”
source: people.com
