Ice-T Believes Artificial Intelligence Could Extend His Acting Career
Ice-T is the latest artist in Hip-Hop to share his thoughts on the rise of artificial intelligence and its use in music and film.
In an interview with Page Six, the 65-year-old actor says he’s open to A.I. being used to potentially extend his own acting career. While hosting a signing for author Mark Minevich’s newly released book Our Planet Powered by AI, Ice-T spoke to the outlet about the benefits that A.I. could bring and argued that the technology would only help add to his legacy.
“I think Ice-T could potentially act forever,” he said last Thursday (Dec. 14). “I wouldn’t care. I think to say ‘no’ would be selfish. A future AI version of me would be better than me.” The Law & Order: SVU actor and Hollywood vet says his decision to embrace the new technology is predicated on his belief that the popularity and usage of A.I. is seemingly inevitable.
“I believe it’s coming and we need to just address it as it comes. There is nothing you can do,” he said. “One of my favorite quotes from [famed producer] Quincy Jones is, ‘if you want to lose a fight, fight the future.’ If you can’t beat them, join them. I am trying to read as much [as I can] to be involved as it grows.”
The conversation surrounding artificial intelligence and its potential impact has been a polarizing one, with various artists and creatives on opposing sides. While artists like Timbaland, Beanie Sigel, and others have voiced their plans to incorporate A.I. into their creative process, others like Ice Cube have been vocal about the technology’s negative effects, particularly in regards to the ownership of one’s image and likeness.
“Could you imagine if I decided not to do a sequel and the movie company said, ‘We have the rights to your likeness,” Cube asked Piers Morgan during an interview this past summer. “We gon’ put you in this sequel whether you want to be or not ’cause we have the right to.’”
He added, “So now they use AI to put Ice Cube in a movie I don’t want to be in, saying things I don’t wanna say and doin’ thing I wouldn’t do, so to me, that’s terrible … or taking an artist that’s passed away and having him do a new song with lyrics that they may not agree with — it’s a slippery slope that will hurt us more than it will help us.”
Watch Ice Cube’s interview with Piers Morgan below.
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