Robert Downey Jr. is one of the most important actors of the moment. In addition to just winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer, he is the unavoidable icon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), both for being Tony Stark/Iron Man and for soon being Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
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Subscribe (it's FREE) ►However, he was one of the first actors to raise his voice against artificial intelligence. In a recent interview on the podcast On With Kara Swisher, he made it clear that he will not allow his image to be used digitally without his consent through AI.
Robert Downey Jr raises his voice against OpenAI
During the conversation, Downey Jr. made his stance very clear: although he trusts the current Marvel leaders not to recreate his character Tony Stark through AI or deepfakes, the future might not be as respectful. “I’m not worried about them hijacking the soul of my character because there are three or four guys and girls making all the decisions there and they would never do that to me,” the actor noted, referring to the current executives of Marvel Studios. However, his opinion about future executives is less optimistic. “I want to make it clear that I intend to sue all future executives, just in case.”
The conversation took a serious turn when the host mentioned that he might not be around to carry out these demands in the future, to which Downey responded with humor: “But my law firm will remain very active when I die.” Downey Jr. has also expressed great skepticism about current advances in AI, especially in relation to influential figures in this industry, such as Sam Altman, director of OpenAI.
The actor is currently tackling the topic of artificial intelligence on Broadway with the play McNeal, which explores the practices of large corporations in the field of AI. According to him, the fact that certain entrepreneurs see themselves as the arbiters of this technology and seek to be recognized positively constitutes “a big mistake” that could cost us all dearly.
