Tom Hanks Reveals Potential Plan to Keep Acting After Death Thanks to AI

Tom Hanks laid out the roadmap of what it would be like to keep acting after his death through AI. During an appearance on The Adam Buxton Podcast, he acknowledged the hot topic in length. Hanks realizes that as actors age and technology improves, the question of who owns a performers likeness will get thornier (legally). In an effort to acknowledge a bleak reality, he laid out how it would happen in his own life. “What is a bona fide possibility right now, if I wanted to, [is] I could get together and pitch a series of seven movies that would star me in them in which I would be 32 years old from now until kingdom come,” Hanks began.

The Forrest Gump actor would go on, “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.”

“Outside of the understanding that it’s been done by AI or deep fake, 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… I can tell you that there [are] 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,” he concluded.

AI And Other Actors In Hollywood

In one case, the same sort of questions arose around Willis. His family recently announced his Dementia diagnosis and the outpouring of love began in earnest. They also clarified that he had not signed away his likeness after he got sick. “As a family, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for the outpouring of love and compassion for Bruce over the past ten months,” the Willis Family said. “Your generosity of spirit has been overwhelming, and we are tremendously grateful for it. For your kindness, and because we know you love Bruce as much as we do, we wanted to give you an update.”

“[Bruce] always believed in using his voice in the world to help others, and to raise awareness about important issues both publicly and privately. We know in our hearts that — if he could today — he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families.”

Do you think any of this AI business is a good idea? Let us know in the comments down below!