Robert Zemeckis has been on the forefront of many technological wonders in the making of his films, dating back to the complicated filming process of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which involved the tireless effort to combine live-action elements interacting with animated characters. Recently, Zemeckis showed ambition again with his film, Here. In this movie, he reunites with his Forrest Gump actors to show the events in the life of a couple from teen age to old age. This included using AI-assisted technology to de-age Tom Hanks and Robin Wright.
Deadline has recently reported that the Friends star, Lisa Kudrow, has viewed this movie as a worrying endorsement for the use of AI, just as the strikes from the Actor’s guild recently fought to keep it regulated. She spoke about the issue on a recent episode of Armchair Expert podcast. Kudrow explained, “They shot it, and they could actually shoot the scene and then look at the playback of them as younger, and it’s ready for them to see.” She continues, “And all I got from that was, this is an endorsement for AI and oh, my God. It’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s going to ruin everything,’ but what will be left? Forget actors, what about up-and-coming actors? They’ll just be licensing and recycling.”
She, then, went on to say, “Set that completely aside, what work will there be for human beings? Then what? There’ll be some kind of living stipend for people, you won’t have to work? How can it possibly be enough?”
Last year, Hanks himself discussed the potential of this technology when he spoke on The Adam Buxton Podcast. He stated, “What is a bona fide possibility right now, if I wanted to, [is] I could get together and pitch a series of seven movies that would star me in them in which I would be 32 years old from now until kingdom come.” He continued, “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.” He adds, “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.”