Robert Downey Jr. Has Said He Will Not Allow Hollywood To Use Him In AI
The use of Artificial Intelligence in creative spaces has been a point of contention since the software was released to the public; its specific use in Hollywood has been a hot topic and a recurring concern raised during the past strikes. Celebrities have already had issues with their likeness being ripped, such as Scarlett Johansson’s legal issues with OpenAI earlier this year, when the company launched a product with a voice that sounded very similar to the actress after she reportedly turned down a partnership offer. Recently, on the podcast On With Kara Swisher, actor Robert Downey Jr. set a firm boundary and warned Hollywood about the subject.
Regarding the possibility of digital recreation in the future, the actor explained (via Variety), “There’s two tracks. How do I feel about everything that’s going on? I feel about it minimally because I have an actual emotional life that’s occurring that doesn’t have a lot of room for that.” RDJ is returning to the MCU as Doctor Doom. He has a fair bit of confidence in their intentions, “To go back to the MCU, I am not worried about them hijacking my character’s soul because there’s like three or four guys and gals who make all the decisions there anyway and they would never do that to me, with or without me.”
RELATED:
The creative has set a hard line on higher-ups digitally recreating him in the future, “I would like to here state that I intend to sue all future executives just on spec,” and continued that his “law firm will still be very active” even when he’s gone. The actor wrapped up with a comment on the CEOs of AI companies and the corporate need for favorable imagery:
“I don’t envy anyone who has been over-identified with the advent of this new phase of the information age. The idea that somehow it belongs to them because they have these super huge start-ups is a fallacy. The problem is when these individuals believe that they are the arbiters of managing this but meanwhile are wanting and/or needing to be seen in a favorable light. That is a massive fucking error. It turns me off and makes me not want to engage with them because they are not being truthful.”
READ NEXT: