Tom Hanks defends use of AI tech used to de-age him in new film
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Actor praised how the technology was able to do six months of work ‘in a nanosecond’. Tom Hanks has defended the controversial use of AI to de-age him in his forthcoming film, Here. The new movie sees Hanks and Robin Wright reunite with Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis, as well as screenwriter Eric Roth.
Thanks to the use of digital de-ageing technology, Hanks and Wright appear several decades younger in parts of the film, which is based on Richard McGuire’s 2014 graphic novel of the same name, and takes place entirely in one living room over 100 years.
The decision to use AI has received backlash from Hollywood stars including Friends actor Lisa Kudrow, who asked “What work will there be for human beings?” as she shared concerns about the risk of “licensing and recycling”. Hanks, 68, appeared to defend the creative choice, as he praised the tech for doing the work of half a year “in a nanosecond”.
Wright added: “It’s happening already. People are using AI without consent and creating actors saying things they never said. So this isn’t new. That’s the scary part.”. However, the Cast Away actor admitted it was harder to make sure that his body language and acting performance were in line with his digital age.
“It’s amazing how both of us became very technical right off the bat,” he explained. “I need to have better posture; you have to get off the couch a little bit faster than you did; we both have eyes that know too much. We had to figure out a way to remove that jaded-life quality!”.
