Phoenix 24
The danger extends beyond lost jobs to the weakening of reality itself.
VENICE, ITALY
George Clooney has warned that artificial intelligence could damage both the film industry and journalism by making it increasingly difficult to distinguish authentic material from synthetic content. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, where he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, the actor and filmmaker said AI would become an important part of entertainment but could harm society in numerous ways.
His central concern was not simply that studios might use algorithms to reduce production costs. Clooney focused on deepfakes and their ability to contaminate public understanding. Once audiences become accustomed to convincing fabrications, he argued, genuine photographs, recordings and videos can also be dismissed as artificial. The result is a dangerous environment in which manufactured evidence may be accepted while documented reality becomes easier to deny.
Clooney said he had spoken with leading AI developers but remained unconvinced that existing safeguards could keep pace with technological advances. He also raised the personal question of whether an actor’s face, voice or identity could be commercially reused after death. His humorous reference to appearing in an unwanted advertisement decades after dying pointed toward a serious unresolved debate over consent, ownership and posthumous image rights.
The warning arrives as Hollywood continues negotiating how generative AI may be used in screenwriting, performance replication, visual effects and production. The technology could lower costs and expand creative possibilities, but it could also displace workers or allow studios to reproduce performers without clearly defined compensation. Clooney did not argue that AI could be eliminated from filmmaking. His concern was whether legal protections and industry agreements could prevent innovation from overriding human authorship and personal rights.
He connected the technological challenge with the concentration of media ownership among a small number of wealthy individuals. Artificially generated content becomes especially consequential when audiences already distrust the institutions distributing information. Clooney nevertheless expressed confidence that credible journalism would continue finding ways to reach the public. His intervention ultimately framed AI governance as more than an entertainment dispute: it is a struggle over who controls identity, evidence and the conditions under which society recognizes truth.
Lo visible y lo oculto, en contexto. / The visible and the hidden, in context.