Robert Downey Jr. Says He'd Sue If Marvel Copied Him With AI

AI looms over us daily, encroaching upon creative territory long held by human artists in various forms. It would seem the film industry is feeling the sting of this new technology, as renowned movie stars such as Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson have spoken out against the possibility of AI replicating their likenesses.

Downey Jr. recently sat down with journalist Kara Swisher on her podcast On With Kara Swisher, published earlier this month. The iconic actor explained that he would happily sue Marvel should the studio ever use his likeness by employing AI after his death. Ever an optimist, RDJ doesn’t feel that current Marvel would turn to AI to replicate an actor’s likeness. However, the rapidly evolving technology will likely become a cause for concern sooner rather than later.

“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,” he said, “and they would never do that to me, with or without me.”

While his faith in Marvel’s current executives is admirable, a change in leadership may lead to a reliance on AI tools in the future. To the prospect that he may not know the future executives, Swisher asked what then. Robert Downey Jr. replied, saying, “Well, you’re right. I would like to here state that I intend to sue all future executives just on spec.”

In the interview, Swisher asked RDJ to clarify, as he may have passed away by the time Marvel utilizes AI in such a way. He replied, “But my law firm will still be very active.”

Again, he’s not the first and likely won’t be the last Marvel superstar to speak out against AI. Earlier this year, Scarlett Johansson took issue with OpenAI utilizing her voice for its personal assistant toolset. While OpenAI denied using Johansson’s likeness for the voice of “Sky,” the company did—rather suddenly—remove the voice altogether while promising to revisit how they select voices for such tools.

It seems the AI industry cannot catch a break, as earlier this month, an AI companion site was hacked, with data revealing users simulating child abuse scenarios.

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