MOVIE NEWS – Tom Hanks said he had “nothing to do” with the artificial intelligence used in the commercial.

Hollywood star Tom Hanks has said he has “nothing to do” with an artificial intelligence version of himself. The latter is advertising “some dental plan”, he said on Instagram on Sunday.

Alongside his warning, Hanks also shared a photo of an apparent AI lookalike of his younger self, although it’s unclear if it’s from an advert for a dental plan.

“BEWARE!!” the Oscar-winning actor wrote on his verified Instagram account. “There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it.”

So far, they have not been able to verify the content of the dental plan advertisement Hanks mentioned. Hanks’ representatives have also not commented.

The use of artificial intelligence to create virtual actors has recently become one of Hollywood’s hottest topics. It was one of the reasons for the ongoing actors’ strike.

Artificial intelligence allows for much simpler and cheaper use of CGI. It can be used to create impersonations of actors who are not there. SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, argues that the studios want to use the technology to eliminate actors’ jobs by scanning and creating digital likenesses that they can use forever without fair remuneration.

Hanks himself has previously spoken about the possible implications of using artificial intelligence as an actor. In May, he said on “The Adam Buxton Podcast” that film agents were in talks to write contracts that would protect actors’ likenesses as intellectual property.

Hanks also suggested in the same podcast that technology could allow him to star in new films after his death.

“Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deep fake technology … I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but my performances can go on and on and on,” he added.

Tom Hanks admitted that an artificial intelligence version of himself would not be able to deliver the same performances as he does now. But he wondered if audiences would really be bothered?

“Without a doubt people will be able to tell, but the question is, will they care?” he said. “There are some people that won’t care, that won’t make that delineation.”

The 2004 computer-animated Christmas fantasy film The Polar Express featured a CGI version of Hanks. And in the 2022 film A Man Called Otto, he was digitally rejuvenated in some scenes.

Source: The Guardian, The Adam Buxton Podcast