Tom Hanks has told fans to beware of a computer-generated Tom Hanks that has been promoting a dental plan. "There's a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it," the actor wrote in an Instagram post, sharing a screenshot of the fake Hanks. The 67-year-old didn't disclose which company was using his likeness without permission, USA Today reports. While Hanks has approved the use of digitally altered versions of himself in movies like Polar Express, he has also expressed misgivings about the future of AI in the movie industry, reports the Guardian.
"Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deepfake technology. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's it, but performances can go on and on and on and on," Hanks said told comedian Adam Buxton's podcast in April, days before Hollywood writers went on strike over AI and other issues. "Outside the understanding of AI and deepfake, 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," he said, per Variety. "That's certainly an artistic challenge but it's also a legal one."
Hanks told Buxton that discussions were happening among unions, agencies, and legal firms about "the legal ramifications of my face and my voice and everybody else's being our intellectual property." The actors' strike is ongoing, but Hollywood writers are back at work. (More Tom Hanks stories.)
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