Nicolas Cage spoke out emphatically against letting AI infiltrate acting after winning best actor in a film for “Dream Scenario” at the 52nd annual Saturn Awards at Universal City on Sunday.
“Thank you for recognizing ‘Dream Scenario,’” Cage said in his acceptance speech. “This is in fact one of my favorite movies I’ve ever made. I have to thank Kristoffer Borgli for his direction, his writing, his editing, and for creating this incredibly disturbing but hilarious world that he dreamt up.”
“But there is another world that is also disturbing me,” Cage continued, “and it’s happening right now around all of us — the new AI world. I am a big believer in not letting robots dream for us. Robots cannot reflect the human condition for us. That is a dead end if an actor lets one AI robot manipulate his or her performance even a little bit, an inch will eventually become a mile and all integrity, purity and truth of art will be replaced by financial interests only. We can’t let that happen.
“The job of all art in my view, film performance included, is to hold a mirror to the external and internal stories of the human condition through the very human thoughtful and emotional process of recreation. A robot can’t do that. If we let robots do that, it will lack all heart and eventually lose edge and turn to mush. There will be no human response to life as we know it. It will be life as robots tell us to know it.
“I say, protect yourselves from AI interfering with your authentic and honest expressions.”
Cage also paid tribute to the late David Lynch, who was remembered during the Saturn Awards in Memoriam tribute. “The enthusiasm in this room is not like any other award show and you remind me of one of my greatest collaborators, David Lynch,” Cage said. “When I was doing ‘Wild at Heart I was a very serious young actor and I said David, is it OK if I have fun on this movie? He said ‘buddy not only is it OK, it’s necessary.’”
Cage was nominated for both best actor in a film for “Dream Scenario” and for best supporting actor for “Longlegs” at the awards sponsored by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.
In October, Cage spoke about AI when he said he hoped the body scans done for his recent products such as “Spider-Man Noir” aren’t used to recreate him after he dies. “They have to put me in a computer and match my eye color and change — I don’t know,” he said. “They’re just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital AI. … God, I hope not AI. I’m terrified of that. I’ve been very vocal about it. … And it makes me wonder, you know, where will the truth of the artists end up? Is it going to be replaced? Is it going to be transmogrified? Where’s the heartbeat going to be? I mean, what are you going to do with my body and my face when I’m dead? I don’t want you to do anything with it!”
The Saturn Awards were hosted by Joel McHale and honored William Shatner, “Back to the Future,” Laurence Fishburne and Hiroyuki Sanada with special awards.
