French actor Lambert Wilson, who played the sinister Merovingian in the iconic Matrix franchise, says he has been warning people about the power of artificial intelligence since 2003.
The 65-year-old Hollywood star revealed he was “an eyewitness” to the power of AI when his character joined the Matrix video games as he experienced many of the claims actors are now making about the use of AI in entertainment to cut costs.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the Locarno Film Festival, Lambert explained he only worked on the video games for two days, the first in a motion-capture suit “making all kinds of expressions” and then a second “recording as many words as possible”.
However, the actor feared his “other self” that had now been created “could happily declare a war” using his likeness and his voice without any of his input.
The actor emphasised he was faced with this two decades ago, questioning how far the technology has evolved since then.
The 65-year-old said the current actors and writers’ strikes in Hollywood are “crucial for our future”, declaring it a “battle of civilization” marking a pivotal turning point in the industry, regardless of what the negotiations decide.
In fact, the Of Gods and Men star claimed the outcome of the strikes will not only affect Hollywood but “our future” as a collective humanity.
Although he is a member of the SAG-AFTRA union which is currently striking, he is not taking industrial action because he’s not a resident of the United States and so is exempt from the strict strike rules.
This is why he was able to attend the film festival in the first place and continue working on his French Apple TV+ series.
However, the actor revealed he is planning to use his celebrity status to show solidarity in other ways, and encouraged international artists across all types of entertainment to do the same.
As he claimed music may be even more at risk than cinema, the Barbecue star concluded: “You realise when you’re on a train or plane or on the bus, and on the smartphone of the person walking next to you, someone has a screen, big or small, with your face, your voice on it.
“And you earn nothing from all those listens, all those views.
“We’re not just fighting for a few extra dollars, we’re fighting to reclaim ourselves.”