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A-lister George Clooney has one… very specific fear when it comes to his legacy after death.
Hollywood is currently at the centre of a raging debate about the ethical use of AI to recreate the likeness of famous people, especially post-mortem.
On the one hand, you have stars like the late Val Kilmer who was ‘brought back to life’ via the medium of AI. On the other you have Robin Williams, whose family has returned to social media after a decade to ‘protect his legacy from rampant AI abuse’.
Meanwhile, high profile actors from across the industry such as stars like Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon are being grilled about their stance on the rapidly-advancing techonology.
Essentially, it’s a hot-button topic which has inevitably made its way to the shores of the Venice Film Festival, where the 65-year-old actor Clooney is accepting a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
Discussing how AI could impact him personally, he was quick to quip: ‘Well, I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I’m dead. I would like to avoid that.’
He also took a step back to give a wider perspective on his fears around its use in the creative industry; he posed that the ‘revolution in the industry’ was ‘going to hurt us in a lot of ways’.
The Oscar winner warned: ‘If you’re a visual effects supervisor, you’re going to have trouble coming up because that’s going to be a lot of jobs taken away.
‘Probably about 30 per cent of the jobs. I don’t know what the real number is, but there’s going to be a big number of jobs that are going to be taken away, and we’re kind of on our back foot on it. We’re not taking the lead on it.’
His worries about his likeness being out of his control under the thumb of AI after his death are echoed by Williams’ family, as mentioned.
In their statement explaining their return to social media, they wrote: ‘Making that space [online] into one where people can find authentic clips and photos of him is one of the best ways we’ve now found to fight back against rampant AI abuse of his voice and likeness on here.’
As for the Ocean’s 11 star, the threat of AI, and his existential concerns over popping up in a tampon advert in two decades, aren’t the only pressing issues he was quizzed on.
When asked about the current state of US politics, which is well into its second Trump administration, he said: ‘Look, I’m always very optimistic about things, and we’re at a moment in time that’s unfortunate – I think that’s an understatement.
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