Don’t sully his name.
Tom Hanks, 67, took to Instagram on Sunday to warn followers that he was not involved in a promotional video for a dental plan that he says features an AI-generated version of himself.
“Beware!!” Hanks wrote in the caption of a photo of his mysterious doppelgänger.
“There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me,” the message continued. “I have nothing to do with it.”
The Post reached out to Hanks’ reps for comment.
This is not the first time the “Forrest Gump” star, who was digitally de-aged in Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming film “Here,” has shared concerns about artificial intelligence.
“There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me,” Hanks’ message states. “I have nothing to do with it.”Getty ImagesDuring a May appearance on The Adam Buxton Podcast, the star spoke about the future of AI and its effect on showbiz.
“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,” Hanks said, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“Outside of the understanding that it’s been done by AI or deep fake, 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,” he continued.
Hanks taped the podcast about three months before the July start of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
On-camera performers are demanding protections on the use of AI and digital replicas.
It’s not the first time he’s spoken out about AI. Getty Images Hanks took to Instagram to share the warning Sunday.The Writers Guild of America, which recently ended its strike after reaching a deal on a new contract with entertainment companies, sought to ban the use of AI for writing and rewriting source material.
Of course, Hanks isn’t the only celebrity who has spoken out about AI.
In June, Arnold Schwarzenegger claimed that the artificial intelligence world presented in the “Terminator” movies has “become a reality.”
“Today, everyone is frightened of it, of where this is gonna go,” Schwarzenegger, 76, said about the state of AI during an event called, “An Evening With Arnold Schwarzenegger,” per People.
“And in this movie, in ‘Terminator,’ we talk about the machines becoming self-aware, and they take over.”
The former California governor also praised the film series’ director, James Cameron, for his “extraordinary” writing, noting that when the movie premiered in 1984, they had “just scratched the surface” of AI.
“Now over the course of decades, it has become a reality,” Schwarzenegger continued. “So it’s not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic. It is here today. And so this is the extraordinary writing of Jim Cameron.”
