Hollywood star George Clooney has weighed in on the growing use of artificial intelligence, joking that he has one very specific concern about what could happen to his image after his death.
Speaking at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, September 2, where he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, the 65-year-old actor and filmmaker discussed AI’s impact on Hollywood, journalism and the public’s ability to distinguish between real and fabricated content.
“I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I’m dead,” Clooney joked while discussing the possibility of AI being used to recreate actors and their likenesses.
But behind the joke was a broader concern about the rapid development of the technology.
Clooney said AI was making it increasingly difficult for people to determine what was real, particularly as deepfakes become more convincing.
“It’s getting harder and harder for us to discern the truth,” he said.
The actor warned that the problem extends beyond people believing fabricated material. The proliferation of fake content, he argued, could also make it easier for people to dismiss genuine images or videos as artificial.
Clooney said he had recently spoken with leading AI developers about safeguards around the technology but remained unconvinced that sufficient progress had been made.
“Everybody’s working furiously at it, and I haven’t seen any great strides yet in success,” he said.
His concerns also extended to Hollywood, where he acknowledged that AI was likely to become an increasingly significant part of the industry. Clooney said the entertainment business would have to find ways to adapt to the technology and its potential impact on jobs.
The actor also used his appearance in Venice to discuss the state of journalism and the concentration of media ownership among some of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
“The state of journalism is always in flux, always challenged,” Clooney said, while adding that he remained confident that information would continue to find its way to the public.
Clooney was honoured with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the opening of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. His relationship with the festival stretches back nearly three decades, including the Venice premiere of Out of Sight in 1998.
Accepting the honour, Clooney joked about what receiving a lifetime achievement award might suggest about his age.
“It also probably means I’m old, but I’ll take it,” he said.
Source: Khaleej Times