Zelda Williams has voiced her concerns about the use of AI technology to recreate her late father, Robin Williams’ voice.
In an Instagram Stories statement, Zelda expressed her discomfort with the technology, stating that she has witnessed the efforts to train AI models to recreate actors like her father, who cannot give their consent. She emphasized that this issue is not theoretical but a real concern.
Zelda revealed that AI has already been employed to make her father’s ‘voice’ say things that people desire, a situation she personally finds disturbing. She emphasized that the consequences of this technology extend beyond her own feelings. She believes that living actors should have the opportunity to create characters through their choices, lend their voices to cartoons, and invest their human effort and time into their performances.
The strike initiated by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) was primarily driven by the members seeking protection from AI. While the WGA has concluded their strike and reached an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), SAG-AFTRA is set to resume negotiations with studios next week.
Zelda also expressed her perspective on AI, describing the recreations as, at best, a subpar imitation of remarkable individuals and, at worst, a grotesque amalgamation of the industry’s worst aspects, rather than representing its intended purpose.