Tom Hanks’ appearance stolen for AI Instagram advert: “I have nothing to do with it”
The American actor Tom Hanks has revealed that a peculiar dental plan advert depicting his appearance is not, in fact, him but instead an unwarranted AI recreation.
This news comes following a year rife with conversation surrounding the hot topic of AI insidious in the creative industry. Notably, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA cited AI as a critical factor in the recent strike action.
Startled after seeing an advert in which he never acted, Hanks was perhaps flattered that his teeth are deemed healthy enough for such an association but felt it urgently necessary to alert his fans of the AI use.
“BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me,” Hanks wrote on Instagram. “I have nothing to do with it.”
As several fans have pointed out, the image of the AI Hanks is more of a cross between Tom and his son Colin Hanks, famed for his role in Fargo. The image used as the base of the AI reproduction appears to have been sourced from a post as long ago as 2014.
Although understandably unsettled by this advert, Hanks has backed the use of AI and likeness-altering CGI tech in several of his career choices. In 2004, he starred in the Christmas movie The Polar Express, which used groundbreaking CGI technology to alter his countenance.
Similarly, in the forthcoming movie Here, Hanks has been de-aged using AI technology. A similar method was used for the actor’s flashback scenes in A Man Called Otto.
Incidentally, Hanks discussed AI image recreation on comedian Adam Buxton’s podcast earlier this year. “I could be hit by a bus tomorrow, and that’s it, but my performances can go on and on and on and on and on,” Hanks said, noting how The Polar Express was a significant step for the technology.
Buxton suggested that there would be legal complications and that one could always tell a slight difference between the AI recreations and the real actor. “I think you might have more faith in the human condition than others,” Hanks replied. “There are some people that won’t care.”
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