 |
| How is artificial intelligence bringing dead actors to life? |
Most of the actors aspire to have a career that will remind them of them even after their life but most of them do not succeed. Achieving success in the world of show business is not so easy but those who make a name in this world become immortal and their name and face lives on.
One such American film star is James Dean who died in a car accident in 1955 after only three films. All these three films were very successful.
But seven decades after his death, Dean's name has appeared in the cast of a new film, Back to Eden.
It will be a digital clone copy of him created using artificial intelligence just like the face used in fake videos, but this copy will be seen in the film walking, waking up, and having dialogues with other actors.
The technology is embedded in Hollywood's computer-generated imagery, but some of the concerns voiced by actors and screenwriters are also related to the technology and have joined the biggest strike in 43 years.
They fear that their replacement is being developed with the help of artificial intelligence for profit. Actor Susan Sarandon is also among them.
#artificialintelligence #artificialintelligenceai #artificialintelligencedigitalmarketing #artificialintelligencece #artificialintelligenceininsurance #artificialintelligencemarketing #artificialintelligencementalhealth
He warned that artificial intelligence could make me do things and say things over which I would have no control.
It should be noted that James Dean is not the first actor to be brought back to life after death. Carrie Fisher, Harold Ramis, and Paul Walker have also graced the screen posthumously.
Brazilian singer Alice Regina was recently featured singing with her daughter Maria Rita in a car commercial.
In 2019, it was also announced that James Dean would appear in a film called Finding Jack with the help of technology, but the project was later canceled.
Travis Clyde of media agency World Wide XR (WXR) has confirmed to the BBC that James Dean will now appear in a science fiction film called 'Back to Eden'.
His digital form will not only be seen as a character in the film but will also be able to interact with the audience on various platforms.
This technology goes far beyond using one's face, but it also raises many questions.
Who owns the rights to someone's face, voice, or personality? Who will have control of one's career after one's death? Can an actor suddenly be used for a comedy or porn film? And what if they are used to promote a bad brand?
So why should such big stars not be allowed to sleep comfortably in the grave?
James Dean's cousin Mark Winslow spent his childhood with him. They affectionately call him Jimmy.
He suspects that James' screen appeal made him an attractive choice for the lead role in modern cinema.
He says that if there were two or three people in one place, your eyes would immediately go to James. I don't think anyone can replace him but it is possible to present something like him on screen.
Digital clone
Amelia Earhart, Bettie Page, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks. These celebrities, including James Dean, are among the hundreds of images represented by WRX and CMG.
James Dean's content in the form of film, photos, and audio is now called source material in WRX parlance. Clyde says countless images were scanned to represent James and were scanned at high resolution by experts using the latest technology.
Combining audio, video, and artificial intelligence, they help create digital clones that look, talk, and act like James Dean.
Dean didn't leave a digital footprint behind. In today's world, celebrities create their own digital footprint through social media, selfies, text and email, and online shopping, and these movements accumulate enough data to provide one with enough information about their thoughts and habits that it is not difficult to create a digital clone of them.
Several companies now offer users the opportunity to create deadbolts that can communicate with the living by providing digital data of their loved ones.
The more material there is, the better and more intelligent a picture of the deceased can be developed. This means that whoever owns the rights to the digital content of a celebrity in the modern world will be able to keep their image alive until the end of the world.
Actor Tom Hanks recently predicted that he will continue to work even after he dies. He told Adam Buxton in a podcast, "I may get hit by a bus tomorrow and my life is over, but I can continue acting."
Employing dead actors in place of living actors
Tom Hanks's Prediction Actors Me) indicates a perceived concern. They are concerned that digitally reviving dead humans will create ethical, legal, and practical problems for both actors and the general public.
Voice actors exclusively lead the discussion. They are working to create a united front to protect the rights and careers of actors.
Tim Friedlander, president and founder of the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA), says, "Mickey Mouse, Porky Pig, and Snow White are hired every time their voice (voice artist) dies, but what if you could use Mill Blanc forever?"
Mil Blanc was a famous American voice actor who recorded the voices of many characters in the Looney Tunes cartoon.
For Tim Friedlander and his fellow voice actors, the situation is very close when dead actors' voices will monopolize the voice-over industry. This will kill the jobs of living voice actors.
"There will be no opportunities for a living person to lose their job to a dead voice actor who recorded the original voices of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and others," he said.
Travis Clyde believes that this will lead to fewer opportunities for actors, but has a 'glass half-empty-half-full' approach to using dead actors.
He said, "In the end, it will create more jobs." Even if they are a threat to one's job, at the moment it is also creating several hundred new job opportunities.
He pointed to using dead actors to create non-acting and technical jobs.
Rights of the Dead
If the dead or their digital copies continue to work forever, who will benefit financially, and do the dead have any rights?
To put it bluntly, the rules regarding this are quite dubious, and in some parts of the world, they do not exist at all.
In an article on celebrities' postmortem publicity rights for the American Bar Association magazine Landslide, Arthur Eric Kahn says that the situation varies from state to state, but some states have no clear publicity rights to protect the wishes of deceased actors.
Usually when a celebrity dies, the 'rights of publicity' are transferred to the celebrity's next of kin or to another party through a will.
Eric Kahn says that a will specifies who will receive the benefits of a dead actor's image and likeness, but a will has limited legal weight because "it's not like a contract, it's a one-sided document."
How a dead person's form is used rests with him, who will have rights to it.
A few actors, such as Robin Williams, use a will to limit the use of their image after their death, but it expires after 25 years.
Eric Kahn says actors have some protections regarding defamation. For example, if the heirs of actress Marilyn Monroe have not given permission to use her likeness and image, then she cannot be used in pornographic films.
It is up to Marilyn Monroe's heirs to argue that their copyrights have been infringed. They may say they were defamed by false statements, which do not reflect Marilyn Monroe's true reputation and misrepresent her.
In addition, the federal Lanham Act provides additional protection to deceased actors. This law protects them from being used in false or misleading advertising and from trademark infringement.
New York boasts the most comprehensive definition of the 'right of publicity' which protects deceased persons from commercial exploitation or unauthorized use of their personal characteristics.
"If you're dead and your family wants to sell you, there's not much you can do about it," says New York-based attorney Bonnie Lee, co-author of a legal essay with Eric Kahn.
He gave the example that if Marilyn Monroe's estate allowed her image to be used in an obscene film, then it would not be illegal.
"Unfortunately, if the heirs say they want it, I think it could happen," he said.
Personal use and private individuals
Although dead actors have vague rights in certain jurisdictions to protect their image from exploitation, ordinary citizens have little control over their image and digital legacy after their death.
There are few laws in the US to prevent the digital reanimation of dead people for private use.
After you die, anyone can create a deadbolt or avatar of you by feeding your public digital legacy (your personal data on the internet) into artificial intelligence software.
A state like New York, where the dead have more protection than the competition, prohibits the use of a person's identity for nefarious purposes.
But Bonnie Lee doesn't see them being implemented. "Eventually someone has to enforce them," she says.
Travis Clyde, Tim Friedlander, and Eric Kahn all agree that legislation is urgently needed to protect the rights and legacies of the deceased, whether celebrities or civilians.
Technology is advancing at a rapid pace and the ethical debate about digital representation of the dead has already begun.
Travis Clyde admitted to being a bit nervous initially. He was concerned about how dead people were being brought back to life digitally, but said he believed WXR was doing everything it could to address these issues.
As for Mark Winslow, he has mixed feelings about seeing his cousin James Dean digitally alive.
"I don't know what to think about it," he says. I want them to be respected. He really took acting very seriously. I would like the same picture to be presented to him.
#artificialintelligence #artificialintelligenceai #artificialintelligencedigitalmarketing #artificialintelligencece #artificialintelligenceininsurance #artificialintelligencemarketing #artificialintelligencementalhealth