On October 21, 2024, the actor Robert Downey Jr. sent a resonant message to Hollywood executives considering creating an AI replica of him.
"I would like to here state that I intend to sue all future executives just on spec," Downey said, in an interview on the On with Kara Swisher podcast.
When Swisher, a well-known technology journalist, pointed out that RDJ might be long gone when a film studio tries to recreate his likeness using AI, the Marvel actor replied, "My law firm will still be very active."
To many people out there who are fans of Downey's portrayal of tech genius Tony Stark, myself included, this statement has a unique flavor of irony. In the Marvel films, Stark has a faithful AI companion named Jarvis, who Stark eventually engineers into an autonomous, sentient being. In the Marvel comic books, Stark even creates an AI hologram of himself to live on after his death.
So, it's ironic to see the face of Tony Stark adamantly taking a stand against AI, specifically the use of AI to replace actors.
Downey is far from alone. The past few years in Hollywood have been defined by an ongoing battle between actors, writers, creatives, and studio executives looking to expand the use of AI in film and TV.
How actors, writers, and creatives became the epicenter of the battle with AI
AI still can't complete creative tasks as well as humans, but film studios are already leveraging it against actors and writers.
In 2023, this issue came to a head when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) both went on strike.
The historic joint strike effectively shut down Hollywood for months. Arguably, the most significant issue at the core of both strikes was the threat of AI replacing humans in the film industry.
One of the policies SAG-AFTRA was striking against would have allowed studios to pay background actors for a single day of work, capture their likeness, and use it in perpetuity with AI, with no additional pay for that actor.
Similarly, the WGA was fighting to ensure film studios couldn't write scripts with AI and asked writers to edit AI-generated scripts for a lower fee than it would cost to write an original script. Also at issue, the concept of using completed scripts to train AI models.
Most people going on strike with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA weren't millionaires. They were screenwriters or background actors whose jobs were at risk of being eliminated by AI.
Meanwhile, celebrities already see their likenesses replicated without consent, leading to legal battles and campaigns for better protection against AI.
Ultimately, the strikes went in the writers' and actors' favor, but on July 26, 2024, SAG-AFTRA went on strike again, this time on behalf of video game actors. Once again, AI is the main driving force behind the ongoing strike.
Will AI bring the end to Hollywood as we know it?
In December 2019, Downey starred as the host of a YouTube Originals series called "The Age of A.I." At the time, generative AI discussion was just starting to crop up online, and services like ChatGPT hadn't become a household name yet. RDJ's tone in the series is one of interest and optimism with a spoonful of skepticism.
In the opening scene of episode six, "Will a Robot Take My Job," Downey reflects on how technology and innovation have always had some negative impact.
"Change makes people panic, but things evolve regardless. So, we accept it, we move on."
Only moments later, Downey steps up on a pedestal alongside several defunct inventions, like the film projector, making a joke that "film personality" will soon join the jobs made obsolete by technology. Four years later, it isn't a joke for RDJ or Hollywood.
On the one hand, it's impressive we have technology that can generate videos or recreate the likenesses of dearly departed movie stars. On the other, there is a real risk of this technology being used to cut costs and use real people's work and likenesses without their permission.
So, can AI replace humans in Hollywood? Not right now. Ultimately, people love seeing Downey play Tony Stark because of what he brings to the role as a human and an artist.
However, the threat of AI becoming a tool and an excuse for job and pay cuts looms.
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