Robert Redford passed away in September. Tributes poured in for the star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Ordinary People. Some of those tributes were fake. Artificial intelligence created images of funerals and quotes that never happened.
Amy Redford, his daughter, posted on Instagram. She called the fakes “fabrications.” Fans sent love from around the world. Still, she condemned AI images of her father and family. “Renderings of my Dad who clearly has no say, and depictions of my family that do not represent anyone in a positive light are extra challenging during a difficult time,” she wrote.
No public funeral took place. Families deserve to grieve on their own terms. “Every family should have the ability to mourn, represent the person they lost, and pay homage in the way that fits their values and family culture best,” Amy Redford said. Why would anyone use AI to fake a man’s funeral? How does that honor his life?
Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late comedian Robin Williams, also recently asked people to stop sending her artificial intelligence videos that imitate her father. She calls the images and clips “gross” and “disgusting.” And acclaimed actor Morgan Freeman says AI is “robbing me.”
AI grabs images without asking. It builds fake scenes from real photos. Hollywood loves to scream about AI dangers. Studios drag Midjourney to court over training on their characters. But they scan extras for digital crowds without a dime or a heads-up. James Cameron warns about AI doomsday one day, then joins its board to slash budgets the next. They howl in public. They sneak it in back doors to save cash. Come on, who’s buying this act?
A24 caught heat for the Civil War poster. Fans spotted AI traces. The Screen Actors Guild fights AI voice clones. Now AI “actresses” like Tilly Norwood will soon appear in projects. They work cheap and endless. Celebs beg the Trump administration to block AI job loss. Studios nod along in strikes but test AI tools quietly.
Hollywood wants control. It sues over IP theft but deploys AI for profits. Why the double standard? At some point, art without the artist is just a cheap trick. I applaud these families speaking up, but I think there is little else they can do about it.
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Todd Fisher
Todd lives in Northern California with "the wife," "the kids," "the dogs," "that cat," and he occasionally wears pants. His upcoming release, "Are You Woke Enough Yet?", is the culmination of too much time on social media and working in the film industry.
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