Robin Williams’ Daughter Shares ‘Very Real’ Concerns About ‘Disturbing’ AI Recreations of Her Father
Artificial intelligence recreations of the late actor Robin Williams aren’t sitting right with his daughter, Zelda Williams. On Sunday, Williams shared an Instagram Story criticizing the use of her father’s likeness in the creation of AI content — but also zoomed out to look at the bigger picture of how the normalization of these tools in the film and TV industries can impact more than just her own personal feelings.
“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 wrote. “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.”
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Williams added: “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.”
In March, SAG-AFTRA released a statement on the use of AI and digital doubles in media and entertainment, particularly commenting on “the terms and conditions involving rights to digitally simulate a performer to create new performances.” As SAG-AFTRA’s strike against the AMPTP continues, AI recreations have been listed as a “mandatory subject of bargaining” in their negotiations.
Some actors, particularly those in background roles, have already had their likeness scanned to be used in AI programs and are unsure what rights they have already signed away. In July, 11 actors spoke to Rolling Stone and expressed confusion as to what exactly they participated in when they were scanned. They cited a lack of paperwork or not having a clear explanation of what was being done, or how it was to be used later. Among their fears were the possibility that their images and/or scans could be later used to train AI programs and develop full-body replicas in their likeness.
“I am not an impartial voice in SAG’s fight against AI,” Zelda wrote on Instagram. “I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real.”
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