Vincent Elbaz a rapporté s'être vu proposer un rôle où son visage serait vieilli via la retouche des images lors de la “post-production”, au lieu d'un maquillage lors du tournage. LOIC VENANCE/AFP
Actor Vincent Elbaz revealed this Friday, January 31, 2025, that he had refused, for ethical reasons, to have his image retouched by artificial intelligence (AI) that film directors were offering him.
“I do not consent”, explained the 53-year-old actor during a press conference in Paris to present the “counter-summit on artificial intelligence” at the Théâtre de la Concorde on February 10, in parallel with the world summit “for action on AI”which will be held on February 10 and 11 in the capital.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Vincent Elbaz reported that he was offered a role where his face would be aged through image retouching during “post-production”, instead of makeup during filming.
“Do I have a choice? I don't know, it's not my film, I'm not the director. But I didn't agree to it: to ruin my face, I'm used to working with makeup artists”, he said declared.
“I'm going to have to get up very early and go through two hours of makeup. But I'm not interested in being spared this effort. The actor's job is the body and the mind”, continued the actor, soon to be seen in “Haut les mains” by Julie Manoukian.
“The effort I make is part of the job. For example, for some roles, months of intense physical preparation are required. Here, they're going to suggest to me: do your preparation and, if you don't manage to do exactly what we're asking, if there are things to correct, we'll adjust using artificial intelligence. No, I don't agree”, he said.
Vincent Elbaz is one of the witnesses, called during this “counter-summit”, who will share their experience of the impact of AI on their profession.
Another person concerned, also present before the press on Friday, Brigitte Lecordier, a voice actress, warned of the threat hanging over her profession.
“We are in danger”
“We are in danger. Our voices are being plundered, they are being stolen from us to be reproduced by AI, and we have not given our consent for this”, said the woman who is known for the voice of Son Goku in Dragon Ball Z.
She claimed that the Ministry of Culture remained deaf to requests to discuss it, despite a petition of 160,000 signatures to support the profession.
“We have still not been received by the ministry. We are 5,000 actors who try, by one means or another, to get to know each other… And nothing works. I think that they are not interested”, she lamented.