Tom Hanks has been a Disney legend for years and an actor that millions have grown up with and looked up to. With great power comes great responsibility, right? Terrifyingly, that statement proves true for many mega-stars with massive followings and influence, but what happens when actors have their faces, voices, and personalities stolen from them to push a message that they do not condone?

Beloved actor Tom Hanks has starred in multiple projects with the House of Mouse, just coming off of a role in the newest Pinocchio (2022) film as the loving and warm Geppetto. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and with a screenplay by Zemeckis and Chris Weitz, the musical comedy film in the same vein as previous, whimsical CGI Zemeckis offerings A Christmas Carol (2009) and even Monster House (2006). Pinocchio brings Hanks and Zemeckis together once again after previous films The Polar Express (2004), and Forrest Gump (1994).
Endearingly dubbed “Mr. Disney”, Tom Hanks is no stranger to working with The Walt Disney Company.
Hanks has taken on classic Disney roles before, like 2018’s Saving Mr. Banks, a storytelling a close-to-real-life tale around the production of the much-loved film Mary Poppins (1962) starring Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins) and Dick Van Dyke (Bert). Of course, he’s also well-known for originating the role of Woody in the Disney-Pixar Toy Story franchise.

Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Toy Story 4 (2019) produced a massive $3.3 billion at the box office, which gave the franchise a spot inside the top-2o for the highest-grossing franchises of all time. Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Woody, Mr. Potato Head, Bo Peep, Mrs. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, all are main characters in Toy Story.
Toy Story is the flagship film of Pixar Animation Studios, and it was a revolutionary film for the world of animation and the art of CGI. Four films, a series of specials and spinoffs, and Disney Parks attractions and lands later, the little movie that could, became a full-length franchise. Now, even a fifth Toy Story movie has been announced.

Clearly, it is easy to see how Tom Hanks has had an influential part on nearly anyone who enjoys watching movies.
Artificial intelligence, or AI has begun to play a big role in technology, as well as entertainment. When first asked about AI, Disney CEO Bob Iger quipped, “I’m looking forward to a time when maybe AI does earnings calls for me.” However, the Disney CEO quickly got serious about the topic, informing listeners that the Walt Disney Company had already begun using AI.
“AI developments represent some pretty interesting opportunities for us,” Iger said. “In fact, we’re already starting to use AI to create some efficiencies and ultimately to better serve consumers.”
However, Iger was quick to recognize the difficulties of working with artificial intelligence. “It could be extremely difficult to manage, particularly from an IT management perspective.” On top of that, the Disney legal team was working to “try to come to grips with what could be some of the challenges,” specifically in regard to recognizing IP.
AI has begun replacing actors, as we have seen with Jeopardy!, and other stars like Selena Gomez (Wizard of Waverley Place) have spoke out on the technology stating, “It terrifies me, to be honest, the whole AI thing”. AI has been known to be able to deep fake any person, and alter reality within seconds without the human eye recognizing a difference.

Now, Tom Hanks is warning fans not to trust a video of him circulating about a dental plan.
It seems that the actor has been duped via AI to promote a product he did not agree to promote. In the past, we have seen lookalikes and doppelgangers of celebrities, like Ashley Leechin, a viral TikToker, has been embarking on a social experiment where she pretends to be Taylor Swift in public, to surprisingly convincing degrees. Leechin visited many places dressed as the singer, convincing millions that Taylor Swift was actually wherever she was.
Now, humans are no longer needed to dupe celebrities, and it can be very damaging. Not only can AI show someone acting and behaving in ways they have not, and promote items, stealing an actor’s influence without their permission.
The Oscar-winning actor took to his Instagram on Sunday to give his fans a heads-up that anything they may see about him online linked to a dental plan was not actually him.
“BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” Hanks wrote over a photo of a computer-generated image of him from the clip, shared The Hollywood Reporter.

The Asteroid City star previously opened up about the use of AI in the entertainment industry, noting it’s been a long time coming and citing The Polar Express as the first time he did a movie that had a huge amount of his likeness locked into a computer.
Interestingly enough, even though Hanks has had his likeness stolen, he is finding the upside in AI usage.
“We saw this coming,” he said on The Adam Buxton Podcast in May. “We saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. Now that has only grown a billionfold since then, and we see it everywhere.”
He also discussed how, with the use of AI, a version of him could continue acting even if something were to happen to him.

“I could be hit by a bus tomorrow, and that’s it, but performances can go on and on and on and on,” Hanks said. “Outside the understanding of AI and deepfake, there’ll be nothing to tell you that it’s not me and me alone. And it’s going to have some degree of lifelike quality. That’s certainly an artistic challenge, but it’s also a legal one.”
The Cast Away actor will next be seen in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.
What do you think of AI? Do you expect actors to be replaced with technology?