Making the impossible possible, Artificial Intelligence has been making incredible strides lately. The once unfathomable things now seem completely ordinary thanks to the advancement of technology. Thanks to this, there is one actor who was worried about the fate of the film industry – Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks is one of the most incredible and genuine actors of today; a man whose performances can very easily bring tears to your eyes. However, the actor is apprehensive about the growing use of technology in the film industry as he believes that the careers of actors could seriously be in jeopardy, and there is nothing they can do about it.
Tom Hanks Worried about A.I. in Movies
In an interview with The New York Times, as reported by New York Post, Tom Hanks went off about how the advancements in technology and Artificial Intelligence could one day prove to be harmful to actors. While technology sure has helped bring incredible stories to life (read: James Cameron‘s Avatar and superhero movies), Hanks does not believe this is necessarily the best idea and stated that he is “troubled” by it.
“I am very troubled by it. But it’s coming down, man. It’s going to happen. And I’m not sure what actors can do about it.”
This was even before deep fakes started sounding and appearing to be so realistic, you couldn’t differentiate between A.I. and reality. Since Hanks’ interview, this technology has grown tenfolds and it continues to do so.
Tom Hanks Elaborates on His Thoughts
Recently, Hanks went back to his previous statements and gave more insight into how he believes the technology could harm an actor’s career. During an appearance on The Adam Buxton Podcast, Hanks talked about his film, The Polar Express, where they used technology to put the actors’ faces on animated characters.
“The first time we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer – literally what we looked like – was a movie called The Polar Express. We saw this coming, we saw that there was going to be this ability to takes zeroes and ones from inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. That has only grown a billion-fold since then and we see it everywhere.”
Hanks also stated that with the growing A.I. or deep fake technology, he could continue to star in films despite being hit by a bus.
“Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of A.I. or deep fake technology. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but performances go on and on and on.”
The A Man Called Otto actor went on to clarify that people will easily be able to tell when A.I. has been used in a film, it’s just that they probably won’t care. Hanks sure has a point here. Does this mean the future of actors is in grave danger?
