Tom Hanks issues ‘beware’ AI warning after spotting eerie deepfake in commercial

Tom Hanks has issued a stark new warning about artificial intelligence (AI) after spotting an eerie deepfake version of himself in an advert.

Despite previously bragging that AI will allow him to star in films after he’s dead, the 67-year-old actor appeared shaken about seeing his AI doppelganger in the dentistry commercial. “BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” he wrote on Instagram on Sunday.

Hanks voiced his support for the US writers’ strike which ended last week, with a key concern being that unchecked AI could undermine the work of creatives. Restrictions on how AI can be used in film and TV were approved between The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television.

READ MORE: Tom Hanks says AI is so advanced he could star in Hollywood films long after he is dead

Stay up to date with the latest in deepfakes, here.

The Forest Gump star had previously expressed concerns about the use of AI in film and TV, questioning the legal ramifications of actors’ digital recreation. And Hanks claimed to be ahead of the curve and said he predicted the rise of AI in the film industry almost two decades ago.

While making 2004 computer-animated Christmas flick, The Polar Express, which featured a CGI version of himself, he realised there was a potential to digitally recreate actors on the big screen. “We saw this coming. We saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones from inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character,” he said on The Adam Buxton podcast.

View this post on Instagram

And it’s not the only time that Hanks has been recreated at the hand of technology. The double Oscar-winner was also de-aged in scenes in 2022 drama, A Man Called Otto.

Despite his qualms, Hanks told the British comedian and podcaster that AI could allow a fake version of him to continue acting well beyond his deathbed. “I could be hit by a bus tomorrow, and that’s it, but performances can go on and on and on and on,” he said. “And outside of the understanding that it’s been done with AI or deepfake, there’ll be nothing to tell you that it’s not me and me alone.”

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk