“Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” star Kevin Sorbo and his wife, actress Sam Sorbo, aren’t excited by the idea of artificial intelligence being used in Hollywood.
The couple recently spoke with Fox News Digital about their new movie, “Miracle in East Texas,” and shared their concerns about the potential use of AI in manipulating actors’ likenesses and performances. The pair run their own production company, Sorbo Studios, which produces family-friendly, faith-based entertainment.
“I’ve always wanted to do a movie of Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando, apparently now I’ll be able to,” Kevin said. “But, I don’t think it would stand up in court that they could get away with that without paying the people.”
He continued, “We have to fight it… It’s frustrating. I don’t want to be on strike, but I understand the concept behind it, and hopefully it will get solved sooner than later.”
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Kevin Sorbo and his wife, Sam Sorbo, are worried about the use of artificial intelligence. (Michael Tran/Getty Images)
Sam agreed with her husband’s comments.
“I think AI is extraordinarily dangerous,” she said. “It’s not regulated, and I don’t know if they even know how to regulate it, because it’s so stealthy. And, you know, my daughter’s an artist, and there’s a big uproar in the art community because AI can reproduce any art with impunity and do whatever it wants to the art.
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“And this is what we are struggling with as actors as well. If they can just recreate this [gesturing towards Kevin] and make it do or say anything that they want, that’s a very dangerous proposition.”
Kevin added, “They will, they’ll do it.”
“You know, the one thing that this country stands for is, basically bodily autonomy, like, we have freedom,” Sam continued, adding that she believes the strike “is quite justified.”
According to the Sorbos, the strike by SAG-AFTRA is “justified” when it comes to the AI debate. (Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)
Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has been on strike since July 14, while the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May 2. The use of AI has been a major point of contention for both unions as they struggle to find an agreement with the studios.
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The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) met on Aug. 11, with the AMPTP presenting its first counteroffer to the union’s demands.
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WATCH: ‘Hercules’ star Kevin Sorbo and wife Sam Sorbo explain why AI is ‘extraordinarily dangerous’
The union called out the studios’ negotiating group, saying in a letter to its members posted to its website this week that it accepted an invitation to meet with “[Disney CEO] Bob Iger, [Universal Pictures CCO] Donna Langley, [Netflix CEO] Ted Sarandos, [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO] David Zaslav and [AMPTP president] Carol Lombardini. It was accompanied by a message [from them] that it was past time to end this strike and that the companies were finally ready to bargain for a deal.”
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“We explained all the ways in which their counter’s limitations and loopholes and omissions failed to sufficiently protect writers from the existential threats that caused us to strike in the first place. We told them that a strike has a price, and that price is an answer to all — and not just some — of the problems they have created in the business.”
SAG-AFTRA joined the ongoing WGA strike last month. The WGA has had some meetings with the AMPTP, but there has been no movement in negotiations between the actors and studios. (Zamek/VIEWpress)
The letter added that the guild was “met with a lecture about how good their single and only counteroffer was,” and claimed that the AMPTP’s plan wasn’t to bargain with the guild, but to “jam us.”
AMPTP president Lombardini said in a statement on the group’s website, “Our priority is to end the strike so that valued members of the creative community can return to what they do best and to end the hardships that so many people and businesses that service the industry are experiencing. We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writers have expressed. We are deeply committed to ending the strike and are hopeful that the WGA will work toward the same resolution.”