AI has become a hot-button issue lately, especially when it comes to creatives who think that their work has been ‘stolen’ or used to train AI to mimic their distinctive talent.
With so many people getting riled up about the use of AI in modern entertainment, Harrison Ford commends the latest Indiana Jones game for not needing AI to ‘Steal His Soul.’
Harrison Ford on The Great Circle
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Ford talks about Troy Baker’s performance as Indy in The Great Circle, and how studios don’t need to use AI to bring people ‘back from the dead’. Ford says, “You don’t need artificial intelligence to steal my soul,” he explained. “You can already do it for nickels and dimes with good ideas and talent… [Baker] did a brilliant job, and it didn’t take AI to do it.”
This isn’t the first time that an actor has managed to replace Ford when it comes to his more iconic roles. Back in 2018, Alden Ehrenreich (Oppenheimer) was cast to play a young Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and a lot of fans can attest that Ehrenreich was able to make the character his own despite not even looking exactly like Ford.
AI and De-Aging
Though The Great Circle did have Troy Baker play the part of Indiana Jones this time, Ford hasn’t been free from the use of AI to “resurrect” or de-age him throughout his career. The recent Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has a whole opening sequence featuring a younger Indy that was brought to life with CG, and Marvel Studios also used some digital trickery to turn Ford into the Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World.
Even Ford’s fellow Star Wars co-stars aren’t safe from the digital de-aging wizards. They did it with Mark Hamill/Luke Skywalker in The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian; and Rogue One did it even earlier with a young Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia by the end of the film.
AI and the Future
For now, it looks like the use of AI has been steadily growing in the creative space, and though it can be used to save money, some big studios have been criticized for using it to replace actual artists. Just recently, the Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser posters received flak for what fans believed were AI-generated images.
Maybe in a few years, the attitude toward AI will change, but as of now, Ford and multiple people on one side of the entertainment industry believe that AI still can’t beat the performance of an actual artist. Hopefully, the money guys running the studio will realize this sooner rather than later.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is now available for PC and Xbox Series X|S, and is set to release on the PS5 sometime later this year.