Zelda Williams slammed AI recreations of her father’s likeness, saying she finds these recreations “personally disturbing.”
In an Instagram story on Sunday, Williams wrote: “I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”
Zelda further wrote that she had seen attempts at using AI to replace or recreate actors who cannot consent to its use — like her father.
“These recreations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people, but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for,” she further wrote.
Robin Williams died by suicide in 2014, aged 63. The actor was known for his roles in “Aladdin,” the “Dead Poets Society,” and “Good Will Hunting.”
For context, Zelda Williams has long held her stance against AI replacing actors. In 2019, Zelda criticized a director’s plans to digitally recreate late actor James Dean for the film, “Finding Jack.”
And Williams isn’t alone in her criticism of AI. Actor Tom Hanks shared an Instagram post on Sunday warning his fans about an AI deepfake of his likeness being used to promote dental plans, saying he has “nothing to do with it.”
In June, voice actor Brad Ziffer said he was avoiding gigs that would enable companies to create an AI-generated voice clone, for fear that it would threaten his future livelihood.
Williams’ comments now come amid a growing debate over the use of AI in the media industry. Protections against AI were a key demand of the Screen Actors Guild strike. Williams has also been critical of studios proposing that background actors get scanned for digital likenesses that studios can own forever.
Representatives for Zelda Williams did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.
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