Nicolas Cage spoke out about the potential dangers of using AI during his acceptance speech for best actor in a film at the Saturn Awards on Sunday.
Cage warned of making even the slightest concession and allowing artificial intelligence into the world of acting.
"I am a big believer in not letting robots dream for us," the 61-year-old actor said at the 52nd annual Saturn Awards at Universal City on Sunday, according to Variety. "Robots cannot reflect the human condition for us. That is a dead end if an actor lets one AI robot manipulate his or her performance even a little bit, an inch will eventually become a mile and all integrity, purity and truth of art will be replaced by financial interests only. We can't let that happen."
His remarks come more than a year after SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers struck a deal that seemingly lasted longer than anticipated due in part to the studio's insistence on using AI to some extent going forward.
In order to reach a compromise, SAG-AFTRA needed to give in a little, but Cage's speech cautions that studios and producers could wind up taking more, if actors are not careful.
"The job of all art in my view, film performance included, is to hold a mirror to the external and internal stories of the human condition through the very human thoughtful and emotional process of recreation," Cage continued. "A robot can’t do that. If we let robots do that, it will lack all heart and eventually lose edge and turn to mush. There will be no human response to life as we know it. It will be life as robots tell us to know it."
"I say, protect yourselves from AI interfering with your authentic and honest expressions," he concluded.