Support truly
independent journalism
Tom Hanks has warned that a series of online adverts using his voice and likeness are fraudulent.
The Forrest Gump actor, 68, says the ads were created without his consent using artificial intelligence.
In a post on his official Instagram account titled “Public Service Announcement,” Hanks said: “There are multiple ads over the internet falsely using my name, likeness and voice promoting miracle cures and wonder drugs. These ads have been created without my consent, fraudulently and through AI.
“I have nothing to do with these posts or the productions and treatments, or the spokespeople touting these cures. I have type 2 diabetes, and I ONLY work with my board certified doctor regarding my treatment.
“DO NOT BE FOOLED. DO NOT BE SWINDLED. DO NOT LOSE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.”
Last October, Hanks shared a similar warning regarding an AI-generated advert for a dental plan.
At the time he shared an image of the AI version of himself on Instagram, captioning the post: “BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it.”
While the Elvis actor did not give his permission for his likeness to be used in the recent adverts or the dental plan video, he will get the AI treatment in a new project from his Polar Express and Cast Away director Robert Zemeckis.
Hanks and Wright appear several decades younger in the film, which is based on Richard McGuire’s 2014 graphic novel of the same name.
The film takes place entirely in one living room over 100 years, with the camera fixed in one position for the entire 104-minute film.
Hanks and Wright play Richard and Margaret, the couple that lives in the house from the 1960s to the present day, thanks to makeup and digital de-aging technology.
While the film will primarily focus on Hanks and Wright’s characters, it will also show the previous inhabitants of the house: Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly, who play Hanks’ parents, Michelle Dockery and Gwilym Lee who play the home’s first residents, David Fynn and Ophelia Lovibond, who live there in the 1920s, and Nicholas Pinnock and Nikki Amuka-Bird, who live in the home after Hanks and Wright, with their housekeeper, played by Anya Marco Harris.
