Robin Williams' daughter is urging people to stop sharing AI-generated videos of her late father, reports the Guardian. In a pair of pointed messages in her Instagram stories, Zelda Williams wrote: "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." Her father took his own life in 2014.
Zelda, herself an actor and director, likened the AI videos to "over-processed hotdogs" that reduce the legacies of real people to hollow imitations for quick online reactions. She's no stranger to this topic: Two years ago, she supported the Screen Actors Guild's campaign against AI clones and spoke of her discomfort at hearing her father's "voice" used by AI to say things he never would. She called the practice "Frankensteinian" and "disturbing," warning that it goes beyond personal offense to raise broader concerns about consent and artistic integrity. Deadline has screenshots of her recent posts.
Williams' comments come as AI-generated deepfakes proliferate across social media, ensnaring other celebrities in everything from fake endorsements to viral political statements. Recent Robin Williams deepfakes—created using OpenAI's video generator Sora—have surfaced on TikTok, including a faux Apple ad and a staged interaction with Betty White, also deceased.
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OpenAI says content owners can flag copyright concerns, but there's no easy way for artists to avoid being re-created by these tools. The company has promised to work with rights holders to block or remove such content as requested. Not everyone tied to Robin Williams is averse to artificially rendered versions of him: Entertainment Weekly notes that Matthew Lawrence, who starred in 1993's Mrs. Doubtfire with Williams, not only wants to see the late actor's voice brought back via AI, but also for Williams "to be the voice of AI."
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