TEETH-FAKE: Tom Hanks slams dental plan ad for using his AI-generated self

Tom Hanks has cautioned that a dental advertisement featuring him as the lead is actually an artificial intelligence (AI) deepfake, in a message posted to his 9.5 million Instagram followers.

"There's a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me," the actor wrote on Instagram.

"I have nothing to do with it," he added.

The actor said his image was used without his permission. “BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” Hanks wrote over a screenshot of a computer-generated image of himself from the clip.

Hanks has already discussed the "artistic challenge" that artificial intelligence provides to his business, and this problem has been at the heart of recent strikes by prominent Hollywood actors and writers.

Deepfakes, or extremely realistic virtual representations of real persons, are frequently feared to be a capability of powerful and sophisticated AI systems.

Martin Lewis, a consumer financial expert, is one of the celebrities whose likeness has been utilised in deepfakes, which are frequently used to trick people.

The government in England and Wales toughened the law to make it easier to punish offenders in response to the use of deepfakes in pornography, which is occasionally done as a form of revenge particularly adding to gender-based violence.

Online disinformation is a problem that is being exacerbated by fake AI photos and videos of politicians. Those who have been attacked include Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, and former US President Donald Trump.

Google said in September that any political advertisements that appeared on its platform would have to disclose whether or not they used artificial intelligence (AI).

AI visual manipulation can also be applied in non-controversial ways, like as in the groundbreaking Abba virtual concerts.

Hanks talked about the idea of using AI to extend performing artists' careers when he appeared on the Adam Buxton show in May.

"We saw this coming, we saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones from inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. That has only grown a billion-fold since then and we see it everywhere," he said.

"Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deepfake technology. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's it, but performances can go on and on and on and on."

A series of strikes that have impacted Hollywood, including Stranger Things and The Last of Us, has been fueled by worries about being replaced by AI.

Recently, a tentative agreement was struck between studio executives and the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which represents screenwriters, to cease their industrial action.

A different disagreement involving actors, which is also partially driven by worries that AI may lead to fewer acting employment, is still unsolved.