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Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late comedian Robin Williams, has publicly expressed her strong disapproval of AI-generated videos that feature her father’s likeness. Robin Williams, who passed away in 2014, left a legacy cherished by many fans.
However, Zelda’s message underscores the emotional toll these artificial recreations take on the families of deceased artists.
In her Instagram story, Zelda candidly urged people not to send her these AI-manipulated clips. She stated, “Stop believing I want to see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t.” This statement reflects her frustration and implores fans to consider how their actions affect her father’s memory and her emotional well-being.
The impact of AI on legacies
Zelda’s concerns go beyond annoyance; they highlight a significant issue regarding technology’s potential to distort the legacies of beloved public figures. She expressed that reducing the complexities of a person’s life and career to digital imitations is disrespectful and trivializes the artistry that defines true creative expression.
“To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’ is maddening,” she wrote. Zelda emphasizes that these recreations fail to capture the essence of who her father was, reducing him to a digital puppet manipulated for entertainment.
The ethical implications of AI content
According to Zelda, AI recreations resemble “disgusting, over-processed hotdogs,” a metaphor illustrating her disdain for the commercialization of authentic artistry. She argues that AI-generated products lack the genuine creativity that human artists bring, resulting in a soulless replication of her father’s essence.
In her view, the creators of these AI videos are not engaging in art but participating in exploitation. “You are taking in the Human Centipede of content, and from the very very end of the line,” she remarked, implying that the end products are grotesque amalgamations of recycled material aimed at garnering social media likes.
Zelda’s previous remarks on AI recreations
This recent call-out is not the first time Zelda has challenged AI representations of her father. During the SAG-AFTRA strike, when AI recreations became a focal point of negotiation, she expressed discomfort with using AI to recreate performances of actors who can no longer consent, like her father.
In a previous post, she stated, “I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent.” This underscores the ethical dilemma surrounding the use of AI in entertainment, particularly regarding deceased individuals whose legacies cannot advocate for themselves.
Valuing human creativity over technology
Zelda believes that living actors deserve the opportunity to express their artistry through their own choices. She noted, “These recreations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people,” highlighting the risks of allowing technology to overshadow genuine human creativity.
Her message is clear: AI should not be regarded as the future of entertainment. Instead, it is merely a tool that often lacks the depth and emotional resonance human artists provide. As she poignantly stated, “For the love of EVERY THING, stop calling it ‘the future,’ AI is just badly recycling and regurgitating the past.”
In her Instagram story, Zelda candidly urged people not to send her these AI-manipulated clips. She stated, “Stop believing I want to see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t.” This statement reflects her frustration and implores fans to consider how their actions affect her father’s memory and her emotional well-being.0
