Inside the AI Tech Making Clones of Hollywood’s Biggest Actors | WSJ

AI tech is scanning the bodies, faces and even voices of some of Hollywood’s biggest actors to create digital doubles that can be transformed, de-aged, and even act in their stead. CAA, which represents actors like Tom Hanks and Zendaya, is embracing the tech that can clone their talent.

WSJ takes an exclusive look at the technology behind one of the most controversial flashpoints in Hollywood, and why the industry’s top talent agency is going all in on AI.

Chapters:
0:00 Digital doubles
0:50 Full body scan
1:57 Stretches
2:13 Why now?
3:54 Face scan
5:43 Voice scan
6:23 Post-production

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#AI #Tech #WSJ

[RobertTolppi]

The title is misleading. Photogrammetry is not "AI Tech." It's been around for over a decade. This is all relatively low-tech stuff but sped up with modern computing power.

[scottmedcalf]

This practice has been standard procedure for 10 years in feature film making and has no connection to AI under normal circumstances. Scans that are digitized are animated using motion capture technology for the most part and are cleaned up using hand animation in the CG realm.

[user]

why would they even need faces of familiar actors, they could generate good looking actors that do not exist

[revindanmor]

I think another issue that is very important to point out is the use of images, scans, and models of actors as training data without their consent to generate people that do not exist. By doing this, studios can get away with not paying residuals because they may argue that the generated doubles don't look like the actors. This is what happened to graphic and concept artists whose works were taken online without their consent and used as training data for AI image generators.

[Boo-pvhn]

I love he’s response, “no my wife keeps me very grounded 😂

[audio_tron]

Ethics and morals are not attributes I would assign to any talent agency, let alone CAA.

[Kacz]

This technology has nothing to do with AI and has been used in the VFX industry for over a decade.
It is used to scan actors for a specific role in a movie and passed along to various HUMAN VFX artists who help animate and integrate the character into the film.
Digitizing actors has been used for even longer than this technology.
Look at the early Harry Potter movies during the quidditch scenes. Most often it is a CG Daniel Radcliffe. Or Spider-Man 1 and 2 in the early 2000s.
The list goes on.
Please stop with the fear mongering by creating video titles like these. It makes the WSJ look embarrassing as journalists when your information is wrong and discredits the talented VFX artists who help craft these incredible scenes in movies. If you want to have a discussion about ethics, that is completely valid; but understand what you're talking about before publishing media and spreading misinformation.

[anirudhnarla]

Not gonna lie but the reporter looks like sam altman which makes this scarier💀

[jaridkeen]

As a Software Engineer, i never thought i would say it but, Technology has gone to Far.

[HugosDesk]

What the WSJ is showing in this video is not AI, it's Machine Learning and VFX (CGI for the mainstream). It's been around for almost 20 years. Let's not confuse CGI with Ai, please! CGI requires large teams of Artists! AI does not!

[Patralgan]

A big no-no unless the actors are paid really well including royalties etc. Also give them the final say of the to be published media which includes their AI double

[ropro]

And what's going to happen when this 'vault' is hacked? 😒

[mville]

This isn't AI .. this is purely what people unknowingly hate on ('CGI') .. or VFX. And just a chunk of the entire workflow and industry.

[itzrlymeman]

Reminds me of the Al Pacino movie, Simone. Great movie

[ZombiemanOhhellnaw]

“Do you feel like you’re living in the future”
“No…. My wife keeps me grounded” *Sigh*
😂

[Jpwinks]

Thats the same camera rig as in the movie The Congress 😮

[A_M_Bobb]

"They can then make a digital rendering of me". Weeks of work by talented and usually underpaid artists. This is by no means a trivial or automated process but heaven forbid we say that.

[tejbirsingh]

Just imagine in the future when everyone is digitally scanned. And then super intelligent AI can make that digital model do anything. Every politician, actor, friend, is controlled by the super intelligence. I cant imagine what sort of future it will be. I guess we are about to find out.

[plug.]

This reminds me of bojack horse man, when he won awards due to his digital double performance

[thomasmelak]

5:41 It's interesting to see how it can handle the catch light in your eye, (on a sunset scene for example). Right now even if your skin matches the environment, the light in your eyes is still a grid of LEDs, breaking the illusion in closeup shots.