Lisa Kudrow fears an uncertain future as artificial intelligence becomes more and more prevalent in Hollywood.
During a recent appearance on the “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard” podcast, she discussed the recent film, “Here,” directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. The movie used AI to allow the stars to play the same characters all the way from their teen years to old age.
“They shot it, and they could actually shoot the scene and then look at the playback of them as younger, and it’s ready for them to see,” Kudrow said.
She continued, “And all I got from that was, this is an endorsement for AI and oh my god. It’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s going to ruin everything,’ but what will be left? Forget actors, what about up-and-coming actors? They’ll just be licensing and recycling.”
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Kudrow also worried about the impact of AI outside the entertainment industry.
“Set that completely aside, what work will there be for human beings? Then what? There’ll be some kind of living stipend for people, you won’t have to work? How can it possibly be enough?”
Hanks confirmed the use of AI in the film last month when he appeared on the “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast.
“You go and you do a data scan, and then they match it with every photograph that exists of me and they go back and find as many photographs of me at the age of 17, 18, 19 . . . my entire life. Then they jam those in using, are you ready for it, the scary word? They use AI in order to do all the work and make it happen faster,” he said.
The “Forrest Gump” star continued, “We would have two monitors while we were shooting. One monitor was the way we really look, and the other monitor with just about a nano second’s lag time was us in the deep fake technology. So on one monitor, I’m a 67-year-old man pretending he’s in high school, and on the other monitor, I’m 17.”
Hanks didn’t seem as worried by AI, saying “All it is, is a movie-making tool.”
“It’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s going to ruin everything,’ but what will be left?”
He noted that to do the kind of work seen in “Here,” playing characters at different ages, “we still had hours in the makeup trailer, because we had to have wigs and hair.”
Instead of the motion capture dots often seen on actors’ faces in behind the scenes images, Hanks revealed that technology used on “Here” was able to use “the pores of your face just to match it like that.”
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The Oscar-winner also noted another impact AI had on their performances.
“Because we also had to look at the timing and the cadence of it and stuff like that, there is a factor . . . we thought that we were speaking at a very realistic cadence, and then we’d go and watch a playback and it was as slow as molasses,” he explained.
“All it is, is a movie-making tool.”
The “Captain Phillips” star added, “It didn’t make it any more fun to sit there and look at ourselves dressed up as we were.”
Hanks has had to warn fans about fake ads using his name, likeness and voice via AI to promote products.
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In August, he posted a statement on Instagram, saying, “There are multiple ads over the internet falsely using my name, likeness and voice promoting miracle cures and wonder drugs. These ads have been created without my consent, fraudulently and through AI.”
He continued, “I have nothing to do with these posts or the productions and treatments, or the spokespeople touting these cures. I have type 2 diabetes, and I ONLY work with my board certified doctor regarding my treatment. DO NOT BE FOOLED. DO NOT BE SWINDLED. DO NOT LOSE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.”
Hanks’ likeness was also used in a dental company scan last October, when he issued a similar warning to fans.
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