In summary
- “Iron Man” actor Robert Downey Jr. is setting some limits on the use of his likeness for digital replicas created with generative artificial intelligence.
- Downey Jr. expressed his intention to sue any executive who attempts to create a digital replica of him without his consent.
- The actor was calm about the possibility of digital replicas, noting that he has already had his image scanned and used on screen, with digital doubles used for action sequences in the “Avengers” films and being digitally rejuvenated for “Captain America: Civil War”d
“Iron Man” actor Robert Downey Jr. is setting some limits on the use of his likeness for digital replicas created with generative artificial intelligence.
The actor, who appeared in eleven Marvel Cinematic Universe films as Tony Stark, told the “On With Kara Swisher” podcast that he would sue “every future executive” who tried to create a digital replica of him.
When asked about Marvel Studios executives looking to resurrect his portrayal of Tony Stark without his involvement, using generative artificial intelligence, Downey Jr. said, “I’m not worried about them kidnapping my character’s soul, because there’s like three or “Four guys and girls who make all the decisions there anyway, and they would never do it with me, with or without me.”
When host Kara Swisher pointed out that other executives could do so in the future, Downey Jr. responded that, “I intend to sue all future executives just out of an abundance of caution,” and that even after his death, “My law firm will continue to be very active.”
The actor was calm about the possibility of digital replicas, noting: “I care minimally because I have a real emotional life that is happening and it doesn’t have much room for that.”
That may be because Downey, Jr. has already had his image scanned and used on screen, with digital doubles used for action sequences in the “Avengers” films, and the actor himself was digitally rejuvenated for “Captain America: Civil War.” of 2016.
Downey, Jr. is currently grappling with the implications of artificial intelligence on Broadway in the play “McNEAL,” in which he plays a novelist who uses technology to help him write his latest play.
The play’s writer, Ayed Akhtar, used generative artificial intelligence while writing the script, he told Swisher.
“One of the things I wanted the play to do was create that sense of magic,” he said, adding that, “you have that in the final monologue, where the monologue seems generated by AI, that there is a sense of magic that this really It’s happening, because I feel like that has been my experience.” “I had to imitate the AI to make it work on the site; I couldn’t get the AI to do it on its own.”
“His ability to now analyze a story and identify potential weaknesses and opportunities is what has surprised me the most,” Akhtar added.
Actors and AI
The film industry is divided over the use of generative AI, with actor Nicolas Cage recently calling the technology “inhumane” and accusing studios of wanting to use AI to “change your face after you’ve already recorded it.”
Currently, studios are allowed to create “employment-based digital replicas” (EBDRs) made with the actor’s participation, and independently created digital replicas (ICDRs) made without the direct participation of the original actor, under a 2023 agreement reached between the actors union SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
While the actors union has reached an agreement with movie producers, SAG-AFTRA is currently on strike over the use of artificial intelligence in video game production. The union is seeking a deal that would require video game producers to obtain consent from performers to replicate their voices, likenesses and performances with artificial intelligence, as well as compensate performers for the use of their digital replicas in games.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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