Bruce Willis' Agent Refutes Claims that He Sold His Face to AI Deepfake

Joaquin Victor Tacla, Tech Times 04 October 2022, 06:10 am

There have been rumors circulating online that the "Die Hard" icon Bruce Willis has sold his image rights to an AI business focused on deepfake technology. However, these claims may have to die-hard as well after Willis' agent denied them.

At the end of September, media rumors suggested Willis had signed a huge contract allowing Deepcake, a company combining video production with machine learning, to create a digital twin of his face to use in upcoming movies and commercials.

Willis would have been one of the first actors to sell their image rights to a technological business if this rumor was true.

Willis' Digital Twin

After receiving a diagnosis of aphasia, a neurological condition that affects people's capacity for language comprehension and expression, the 67-year-old actor decided to end his career in acting.

A false, synthetic version of Willis might appear in movies even though his acting career had ended thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that duplicate his voice and face.

However, a representative for Willis disputed that he had given Deepcake the right to use his image. The spokesman informed the BBC, "please know that Bruce has no partnership or agreement with this Deepcake company.

This rumor was also refuted by a spokesperson from Deepcake, noting the wording about "rights" is not the proper term since his image rights are his by default.

Willis previously collaborated with Deepcake in 2021 for an advertisement for the Russian telecoms provider MegaFon in which he looks to be strapped to an explosive.

The actor's face was placed onto a body to make him appear in various scenes, as demonstrated in a brief promotional film on Deepcake's website.

Deepcake acknowledged that it collaborated on the advertisement with Willis' team. The representative added that he gave the company his consent and several materials for them to make his digital twin for the advertisement.

The Rise of Deepfakes

Deepfakes are created by digitally altering films and photos using pattern recognition technology, a branch of machine learning that makes use of enormous data sets and neural network simulation.

The features have the potential to assist 3D artists and filmmakers in creating high-quality video clips when used ethically. On the other hand, when used maliciously, deepfakes can endanger national security and lead to social issues.

AI replacement seems to be growing nowadays. James Earl Jones, who played the iconic role of Darth Vader, recently announced his retirement from acting, yet his voice has continued to be heard. Another AI company, Respeecher, apparently recreated the Vader vocals using archival sources and a secret algorithm.

This summer saw the release of Disney's most recent Star Wars spinoff, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Using Respeecher's technology, Vader's speech was imitated on-screen.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla