Artificial intelligence is the new fashionable technology, and its rise is taking place by leaps and bounds. In recent months, applications such as ChatGPT and different variants of AI trained for certain purposes have taken control of tasks such as searching for information, editing audio and video, or generating texts. However, consent when feeding it with protected material and its applications in more human tasks have put it in the spotlight.
In recent weeks, it has become common to see complaints and reports of artificial intelligences that have taken other people’s material without permission, creating strong and long discussions about its use and the role of those behind the AI’s action. The last cry in the sky is also from a very real person: the veteran American actor Tom Hanks, who has warned about the improper use of his image for an advertising campaign.
“Alert! There’s a video out there promoting dental insurance with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” commented the interpreter on his Instagram profile. In turn, he shares the fake image of himself that has been used in the advertisement. It is not the first time that Tom Hanks warns of the consequences related to this technology, exposing his feelings about it on Adam Buxton’s podcast last May.
“Anyone can recreate themselves today at any age with the help of AI or deep fake technology. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and it’s over, but the performances can go on and on and on. Beyond AI and deep fake, there would be nothing else that could tell you that it’s not me. And it will have a level of quality similar to that of real life. There is a certain artistic challenge, but there is also a legal one,” said the actor.
“Every union, agency and legal team is discussing the legal ramifications of my face and voice and anyone else’s being our intellectual property. No doubt people will notice, but the question is: will they care? There are people who won’t care, who won’t make that distinction,” added Woody’s voice in Toy Story. Hanks is not the first important figure to talk about artificial intelligence, joining his guildmate Keanu Reeves.
“The people who pay you for your art would rather not pay you. They are actively looking for a way to avoid you, because artists, for example, are irregular. Humans are messy. People in power don’t want that, you know? So let’s say you lose your life. Before that, they are going to consider how much they pay you, and that is going to cause everyone to become an independent worker,” he told Wired magazine last February.
