''AI Version Of Me, Have Nothing To Do With It'': Tom Hanks Warns About Ad

Veteran Hollywood actor Tom Hanks has warned his fans about an AI version of himself used in an advertisement for a dental plan. The Oscar-winner actor took to Instagram to post a computer-generated image that eerily looks similar to him and stressed that he has ''nothing to do with it''.

''BEWARE!! There's a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it, '' the 67-year-old actor wrote on the photo of his AI counterpart from the clip. The image has been used in the advertisement without his consent.

Here is the post:

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Mr Hanks has previously spoken about the usage of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology in the creative industries. In May, when he was a guest on the ''Adam Buxton Podcast'', he spoke about impact of AI in movies. He said that he could keep appearing in new movies after he dies with artificial intelligence technology.

''Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deep fake technology. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's it, but my performances can go on and on and on. And outside of the understanding that it's been done by AI or deepfake, there'll be nothing to tell you that it's not me and me alone. And it's going to have some degree of lifelike quality. And that is certainly an artistic challenge, but it's also a legal one,'' he said. 

Mr Hanks also shared that people in the industry are now talking about how to protect actors from the effects of technology.

"I can tell you that there are discussions going on in all of the guilds, all of the agencies, and all of the legal firms in order to come up with the legal ramifications of my face and my voice and everybody else's being our intellectual property," the actor shared.

In 2004, he starred as a digitally animated version of himself in the Christmas movie 'The Polar Express'. He was also de-aged in scenes in the 2022 film 'A Man Called Otto.'

This year, the renowned actor also published his debut novel called 'The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece'. The book is based on "a wildly ambitious story of the making of a colossal, star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film, and the humble comic book that inspired it all", according to the official synopsis. It was released on May 9 and received mixed reviews.