Robin Williams' Daughter Blasts AI Recreations of Late Father

Quincy Jon, Tech Times 02 October 2023, 03:10 pm

Zelda Williams Voices Opposition to AI Use in Resurrecting Actors Like Her Father

(Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images) Actor Robin Williams and his daughter Zelda Williams arrive at the screening of "House Of D" during the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival on May 7, 2004, in New York City.

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.

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Her remarks follow the disclosure that Robin Williams' voice would appear in the upcoming Disney short film "Once Upon a Studio." The late actor will return as Genie from "Aladdin," utilizing previously unreleased lines that were recorded before he died in 2014, per Calgary Herald. It is believed that Robin Williams' estate has permitted these recordings to be utilized.

The condition called Lewy body dementia, which substantially impacted Robin Williams' cognitive and physical abilities, was considered a contributing factor in his unfortunate demise. Lewy bodies and aberrant protein deposits were discovered after his autopsy, according to Marca.

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.