Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda slams AI recreations of her dad

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 10/2/2023, 1:35 p.m.
Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda Williams says recreations of her late father made with artificial intelligence are “disturbing.”
Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda Williams says recreations of her late father made with artificial intelligence are “disturbing.” Mandatory Credit: Getty Images

Originally Published: 02 OCT 23 12:03 ET

By Marianne Garvey, CNN

(CNN) — Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda Williams says recreations of her late father made with artificial intelligence are “disturbing.”

She took to Instagram on Sunday to explain her thoughts on AI, which is one of the key contract issues in the SAG-AFTRA strike against Hollywood studios.

“I am not an impartial voice in SAG’s fight against AI,” Williams wrote. “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.”

Williams, a director and producer who has also acted in the projects, described how upsetting it is to hear her father’s likeness and voice misused.

“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. 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.”

She concluded, “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.”

Over the weekend Tom Hanks weighed in on an AI version of himself promoting a dental plan, warning supporters that it wasn’t really him.

SAG-AFTRA resumes talks with the Hollywood studios on Monday.

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