Nicolas Cage is terrified of AI, wonders what will be done with his face when he’s dead

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in Hollywood is worrying for many, including Nicolas Cage, who recently told the New Yorker that he’s “terrified” of it.

As the interview was wrapped up, Cage mentioned that he was set to be “scanned” for the upcoming Spider-Man Noir series, which got the actor pondering about AI and what could be done with his likeness after he dies. “They have to put me in a computer and match my eye color and change—I don’t know,” Cage said. “They’re just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital AI. God, I hope not AI. I’m terrified of that. I’ve been very vocal about it.“

Cage continued, “It makes me wonder, you know, where will the truth of the artists end up? Is it going to be replaced? Is it going to be transmogrified? Where’s the heartbeat going to be? I mean, what are you going to do with my body and my face when I’m dead? I don’t want you to do anything with it!” The use of AI was a main point during last year’s Hollywood strikes, and although an agreement was reached to protect writers and actors, the use of AI in productions is still an ongoing issue.

As for Cage’s Spider-Man Noir series, the actor first voiced the character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but he’ll be bringing him into the realm of live-action for the Prime Video project. The series will star Cage as an “aging and down on his luck private investigator in 1930s New York who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero.”

Cage will next be seen in Longlegs, a new psychological horror from writer/director Osgood Perkins (I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House). The film stars Maika Monroe as FBI Agent Lee Harker, “a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.” The film will hit theaters on July 12th, so be sure to check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here.