Zelda Williams, the daughter of iconic actor and comedian Robin Williams, has expressed her vehement opposition to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to recreate her father's image and voice. In a moving Instagram post, Zelda Williams voiced her concerns about the technology being used to replicate artists who are unable to concur like her late father.
She noted her significant role in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Hollywood studios' current contract talks involving the use of AI. Zelda Williams said that AI models have been trained to mimic her father's voice and image, making the issue legitimate.
In her IG story, Zelda Williams, a director, producer, and infrequent performer, expressed her outrage at hearing her father's voice and appearance being inappropriately utilized. While she said that she personally finds it "personally disturbing" that AI has been used to make her father's voice say anything people want, she also underlined the wider ramifications of this technology.
Zelda Williams sees AI Recreations as Monsters
According to Zelda Williams, actual performers ought to have the chance to develop their own personas based on their own preferences and to devote their time and energy to the performing arts. She said the AI recreations are poor imitations of great actors that destroy the entertainment business.
"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," Zelda Williams said, as quoted by CNN.
Entertainment Workers v. AI
Zelda Williams' critique of AI recreations parallels other performers' and public figures' ethical and creative concerns. Actor Tom Hanks also reacted to an AI image of himself being used in a dental plan advertisement over the weekend, warning fans that it was not really him.
Hollywood actors have started a strike over several topics, including residual payments and the use of AI. Most TV and film projects are halted during the strike. When the writers' strike ended, certain late-night talk programs, such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS), resumed production, according to a report from The Independent.
SAG-AFTRA will resume negotiations with studios this week to resolve actors' concerns about artificial intelligence and other contractual matters.
