Everyone mourns differently, but very few people mourn by having AI-generated versions of their loved ones shoved in their face by probably well-meaning but deeply misguided fans. Now, that might be how you get over loss, but it is not how Zelda Williams, daughter of late actor Robin Williams, wants to remember her father. Unfortunately, it happens frequently enough that she felt obligated to plead with her followers to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her dad.
In an Instagram Stories post spotted by The Independent, Williams said directly and clearly, “Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad. Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t.” She acknowledged that some people may be trying to troll her, which she said she’s seen “way worse” and will simply block anyone trying to get under her skin and move on.
But it’s not just people intentionally being assholes about her late father—some people seem to have gotten in her head that she might take comfort in seeing AI make Robin Williams say and do things that he never did. That is something she expressed zero interest in. “If you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want,” she wrote.
“To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening. You’re not making art, you’re making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings, out of the history of art and music, and then shoving them down someone else’s throat hoping they’ll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross.”
Grief is a tricky thing, and in the age of AI, there are people who have intentionally made the choice to create an AI version of a loved one as a way to feel as though they can continue communicating with the person they lost. There may be some merit to that coping technique, especially in the early stages of loss, as a way for the mourner to get closure. But it should never be forgotten that even a large language model trained exclusively on a single person’s words, thoughts, and behaviors is not that person.
It’s considerably less tricky to simply follow someone’s wishes, and Zelda Williams has made hers clear. Even without her asking, though, take a beat and consider just how weird it would be to receive a video of one of your lost loved ones, saying words they have never said under the control of someone you have never met, and having that presented to you as if it is meant to provide comfort. Also, consider why you would think that the daughter of a person who has hundreds of hours of performances on film, in character and as himself, needs a fake memory generated of him.
Earlier this year, actor Matthew Lawrence, who co-starred alongside Robin Williams in “Mrs. Doubtfire,” said that he’d “love” to recreate Williams’ voice with AI for a project, “obviously, with the respect and with the OK from his family.” Seems like the answer to that request is likely to be “No,” though at least he’s got the good sense to want permission first.
