‘I’ve seen AIs of me sitting with Obama talking about insane things that we never did’: George Clooney raises the alarm over AI fakes — while Maggie Gyllenhaal says the tech 'fundamentally did not work’ when she was pressured to use it in filmmaking

George Clooney expressed deep concerns over the potential of AI to generate deepfakes that are indistinguishable from reality, particularly those featuring world leaders, during a symposium titled "The Future of... Creativity" in Venice. Clooney emphasized the challenge of discerning such AI-generated content, citing the example of a video of Putin announcing a nuclear strike against the United States.

At the same symposium, Maggie Gyllenhaal shared her firsthand experience with AI during the production of her short film "Flesh Impact," about Marilyn Monroe. Gyllenhaal admitted that her attempt to incorporate AI technology into the film did not yield the desired results. Despite the AI's inability to replicate the depth and emotion of a live performance, Gyllenhaal found that Dakota Johnson's portrayal of Monroe was more compelling and authentic.

The experience offered a glimmer of optimism for filmmakers, who recognize that while AI-generated content can convincingly mislead, it struggles to capture the emotional nuances that are crucial for a powerful performance.