Tom Hanks warns fans about ‘AI version’ of himself in dental plan ad
2 October 2023, 12:43
Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks has issued a warning to fans over an AI advert of him promoting a dental plan that has 'nothing to do' with him.
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Multiple Oscar-winning actor Hanks, posted on his social media over the weekend warning followers about an image of himself being used in an advertisement without his consent.
“BEWARE!!” he wrote, “There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it.”
Earlier this year, he appeared on The Adam Buxton Podcast where he spoke about how far the technology has come: “Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age 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.
“Outside of the understanding that it’s being done by AI or 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.”
In 2004, he starred as a digitally animated version of himself in the Christmas movie The Polar Express.
Speaking to British comedian Adam Buxton, he said: “We saw this coming, we saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones from inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. That has only grown a billion-fold since then and we see it everywhere.”
He added: “There are discussions going on in all of the guilds, all of the agencies, and all of the legal firms in order to come up with the legal ramifications of my face and my voice and everybody else’s being our intellectual property.”
The use of AI is an ongoing concern for actors in the wake of the continuing SAG-AFTRA strikes. They are concerned that AI technology could be used without actors’ consent.
Last week, the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) ended their strike after 148 days.
The labour union came to an agreement with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which includes protections for writers in the United States against AI influence.
US comedian Adam Conover said the new agreement means “AI can’t write scripts, edit scripts, or undermine our rights and credits.”
