Greta Garbo’s alluring performances on the silent screen propelled her to the heights of Hollywood before her retirement in 1941. Now, after decades of reclusiveness and more than 40 years after she died a version of the actress is back in front of the lens.
An ad for a Swedish manufacturing company released this week turned an A.I.-generated likeness of Ms. Garbo into a company spokeswoman.
“Are we rolling?” asks the A.I. Garbo, dressed in slacks and a silk top, before making a pitch for the company’s frictionless magnetic bearings, which are used in data centers, cooling systems and semiconductor applications.
The company, SKF Group, said in a news release that the ad was partly inspired by its history, as the Swedish American actress once appeared in a film used by the company to market Swedish industries abroad.
“At SKF, we want our communication to be as innovative as our technology,” Carl Bjernstam, a spokesman for the company, said in an email in response to questions about using Ms. Garbo’s likeness. He added that her family and licensing company, Harriet Brown & Company Inc., had approved the project.
Even though Ms. Garbo’s likeness was used with permission, response to the ad was mixed. Some viewers called it a convincing replica of the actress. Others called it a ghoulish facsimile that failed to capture her charisma, and panned the ad’s script.
The growing use of generative A.I. has become a charged topic in the film and entertainment industry. Critics have focused on the ethics of using A.I. look-alikes of people who are not alive to consent to usage of their likeness.
On social media, fan-made videos featuring deceased celebrities, such as Dolly Parton and Robin Williams, have led to pushback from their relatives. A photorealistic A.I. likeness of Val Kilmer will take the actor’s place in a new film he had planned to shoot before his death last year.
For the ad, the production team described its observations of photographs and films of Ms. Garbo to produce a physical likeness, rather than uploading imagery of her. They also generated her image with several A.I. models, including Seedream 5 Pro and Nano Banana Pro, Mr. Bjernstam said. Seedance 2 and 2.5 and Kling were used for the motion. The actress’s voice proved more difficult to replicate, and archival audio was used to train a voice model.
Harriet Brown & Company Inc. did not immediately return a request for comment. But Ms. Garbo’s family and estate were happy with the result, their spokesman said.
“We understand that people have questions, and we respect that views will differ,” Mr. Bjernstam said in response to the controversy over A.I.-generated images of celebrities. “Portraying someone who is no longer here carries a responsibility.”
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