Robin Williams’ Daughter Zelda Criticizes Use of AI to Re-create His Voice: “I Find It Personally Disturbing”
"These re-creations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people, but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for," she posted.
Robin Williams‘ daughter Zelda is speaking out against the use of artificial intelligence to re-create the sound of her father’s voice.
“I am not an impartial voice in SAG’s fight against AI. I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/re-create actors who cannot consent, like Dad,” she wrote on her Instagram Story on Sunday. “This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real. I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”
Her comments come on the heels of the Writer Guild of America’s strike against the studios over issues that included the use of AI, among other sticking points. While the WGA has a tentative deal in place, SAG-AFTRA is still currently on strike over the use of AI and other issues.
“Living actors deserve a chance to create characters with their choices, to voice cartoons, to put their HUMAN effort and time into the pursuit of performance,” Zelda continued in her post. “These re-creations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people, but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for.”
Robin died by suicide in 2014 at age 62. He had been diagnosed previously with anxiety, severe depression and Parkinson’s disease; an autopsy revealed he also had Lewy body dementia.
Read Zelda’s full message below.
Robin’s voice is set to appear in a new Disney short, Once Upon a Studio, in the role of his Aladdin character, Genie. Josh Gad, the voice of Olaf in Disney’s Frozen, has confirmed that the short uses “previously unheard dialogue” recorded by Williams prior to his death and used with the consent of his estate. The short, which premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June and will be released later this month, brings together hundreds of Disney characters in celebration of the studio’s 100th anniversary.
