Robert Downey Jr. has threatened to sue any movie studio executives who might make AI replicas of him.
The Oppenheimer actor has issued a warning to potential future executives planning to use artificial intelligence to recreate his likeness for any new Marvel projects.
Speaking on the latest episode of the On With Kara Swisher podcast, the Iron Man star made his views on AI clear.
“There’s two tracks. How do I feel about everything that’s going on? I feel about it minimally because I have an actual emotional life that’s occurring that doesn’t have a lot of room for that,” Robert replied when asked his opinion on AI recreations and deepfakes.
The actor, best known for playing Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), doesn’t think the movie conglomerate would use AI to bring back his character, who died in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
“To go back to the MCU, I’m not worried about them hijacking my character’s soul because there’s like three or four guys and gals who make all the decisions there anyway and they would never do that to me, with or without me,” he stated.
However, the podcast host pointed out that future executives “certainly will” want to bring the iconic character back.
Robert replied, “Well, you’re right. I would like to here state that I intend to sue all future executives just on spec.”
Elsewhere in the episode, the Oscar winner explained what he has to consider before investing in AI companies.
“It always comes down again to not the technology or the opportunity to line my pockets as much as, ‘Who are the people involved with this? Do I think they have a moral psychology? For what reason are they deploying this? Is their steering committee sound? Do I have something to learn from this experience, can I be additive?’ So I’m a little more agnostic about these things,” the star said.
