'It’s a system of control and manipulation,' Keanu Reeves sounds the alarm on deepfake AI technology

Reeves' comments come in the wake of a recent controversy in which a popular video game livestreamer was forced to apologize after allegedly paying for AI-generated pornographic images of fellow internet personalities.

'It’s a system of control and manipulation,' Keanu Reeves sounds the alarm on deepfake AI technology
AP Photo/Noah Berger
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Keanu Reeves, the 58-year-old actor and star of the "John Wick" franchise, is speaking out against the dangers of ‘deepfake’ technology, criticizing the lack of agency that comes with it and expressing his concern with the potential implications of the advancing technology.

In an interview with Wired published on Tuesday, Reeves shared his concerns regarding the artificial intelligence technology, which can be used to manipulate video footage.

Reeves went so far as to add a clause to his movie contracts that would prohibit studios digitally altering his scenes. 

The actor expressed his frustration with the lack of agency he may have when it comes to deepfake technology, saying:

When you give a performance in a film, you know you’re going to be edited, but you’re participating in that. If you go into deepfake land, it has none of your points of view. That’s scary.

Reeves continued to discuss the potential implications of deepfake technology, saying, "People are growing up with these tools: We’re listening to music already that’s made by AI in the style of Nirvana, there’s NFT digital art. It’s cool, like, ‘Look what the cute machines can make!’ But there’s a corporatocracy behind it that’s looking to control those things.”

“Culturally, socially, we’re gonna be confronted by the value of real, or the non-value. And then what’s going to be pushed on us? What’s going to be presented to us? It’s this sensorium. It's a spectacle. And it’s a system of control and manipulation,” added Reeves.

“We’re on our knees looking at cave walls and seeing the projections, and we’re not having the chance to look behind us,” he said.

Reeves' comments come in the wake of a recent controversy in which a popular video game livestreamer was forced to apologize after allegedly paying for AI-generated pornographic images of fellow internet personalities.

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