Tom Hanks is one of the actors who is flirting more and better with Artificial Intelligence. For the movie Here, the Forrest Gump actor will use Deepfake techniques with the idea of rejuvenating his appearance and looking younger. And this is not the only time he plans to use new AI methods… or that, at least, is what he is considering.
As published from the BBC, the actor has spoken to the podcast The Adam Buxton about the possibilities of acting in the future, and the interpreter has been curious and quite favorable to what they can get to do with their appearance in the future. In fact, he is considering that, if managed correctly, his face could continue to be used even after he passes away.
Tom Hanks and the reality of AI-driven performances
“It’s something that’s always been latent,” the actor tells the podcast. “The first time we did a movie that had a lot of our own data stored in a computer – literally our look – was in a movie called The Polar Express,” he adds, referring to the 2004 feature.
“So it’s a genuine possibility at this point,” he continues. “If I wanted to, I could come up with a series of seven films that I would star in where I would be 32 years old from now until the end of time. Now anyone can recreate themselves at any age, thanks to AI or ‘deepfake’ technology […] I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but my performances can go on and on and on and on […] Other than the realization that it’s been created through artificial intelligence or ‘deepfake,’ there will be nothing to tell you that it’s not me and only me and it’s going to have some degree of realistic quality.”
Undoubtedly, since The Polar Express was released, much progress has been made in this regard, and in the actor’s words, the worst (or best) thing is that, eventually, no one will care where one or the other performance has come from: “No doubt, people will notice, but the question is whether they will care. There are people who won’t care, who won’t make that delineation in the future.”
Despite seeming like a future possibility or a debate that doesn’t yet make too much sense to raise, for Tom Hanks it’s something that has been on the table for a long time. “We saw it coming, we saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones inside a computer and turn them into a face and a character,” he clarifies. “Since then, it’s multiplied by a billion and we see it everywhere.”
That’s why Hollywood as a whole is actively working to get ahead of this situation. And, even though we’re not actively seeing it as we are, for example, with the screenwriters’ strike, many are already preparing for what’s to come:
“I can tell you that discussions are going on in all the guilds, all the agencies and all the law firms to find the legal ramifications of my face and my voice and everyone else’s being our intellectual property.”
So, it’s not just that it may come to be, but that all the major players’ agencies around the world are preparing for when this time comes. It is clear, as we have seen in Star Wars or Marvel Studios, the possibility is more real than ever, and it is only a matter of time before it begins to be carried out with actors who are no longer with us.
That is why, as Tom Hanks is rightly pointing out with his image, no one will be safe from this technology in the future. So there are only two options left: to deny it until reality hits them in the face, or to manage their rights in the best way possible so that it is used in the best possible way. Hanks certainly advocates the latter option, and it may set the precedent for many actors in the future.
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