Will the real Tom Hanks please stand up?
The “Elvis” actor, 67, claimed on Instagram Sunday that a dental company used a computer-generated video of him without his permission.
“BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” Hanks wrote over a screenshot of the advertisement.
He did not reveal which company used his likeness for their advertisement.
USA TODAY reached out to reps for Hanks for comment.
The latest use of the Oscar-winning actor comes five months after he discussed the morality of AI and the possibility of his likeness being used for acting after he dies.
“Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deep fake technology,” he said on “The Adam Buxton” podcast in May. “I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but my performances can go on and on and on.”
Hanks elaborated that aside from a project labeling a posthumous movie with him as AI, “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.”
He added: “That’s certainly an artistic challenge, but also a legal one.”
Podcast host Adam Buxton insisted that audiences would be able to tell the difference, especially in some stylistic choices that Hanks makes that AI would not pick up.
“Without a doubt people will be able to tell, but the question is, will they care?” Hanks responded. “There are some people that won’t care, that won’t make that delineation.”
The morality of AI in the entertainment industry is sparking “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 actor added.
Tom Hanks reacts to AI:Actor says some people ‘won’t care’ if an computer-generated version of him continues acting after death
AI has been an ongoing concern in Hollywood for both actors and screenwriters.
The Writers Guild of America board unanimously voted to affirm the strike-ending deal on Wednesday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations.
According to a WGA statement, writers earned increased pay, health and pension contributions with the contract extension as well as new foreign streaming residuals, and viewership-based streaming bonuses. There are also assurances against AI, a particular point of contention in the negotiations.
Contributing: Bryan Alexander
Hollywood writers’ strike to endas union leadership OKs deal
