While technology has long blurred the line between life and death, the rise of artificial intelligence has created an unprecedented phenomenon: the digital resurrection of deceased celebrities. Companies like Hollo and Realbotix now generate synthetic versions of late stars such as Suzanne Somers and George Michael, emulating their voices, personalities, and facial expressions for new commercial projects. These AI-driven likenesses, capable of appearing in reboots and tributes, have spawned an industry worth billions of dollars. These technologies are already being considered for classic show revivals, particularly nostalgic series like Three’s Company that defined earlier entertainment eras.
California’s legislative response, A.B. 1836, will expand post-mortem rights beginning January 2025, giving estates greater control over deceased celebrities’ AI-generated digital replicas. Originally intended to prevent unauthorized deepfakes, the law now enables estates to monetize digital personas through licensing arrangements for films, advertisements, and social media content. This development arrives amid a fragmented legal landscape, as other regions lack similar protections for digital likeness rights. The complexities around AI-generated content further highlight the importance of royalty collection organizations that ensure proper compensation for the use of copyrighted music in these posthumous productions.
California’s new law grants estates unprecedented control over AI-generated celebrity replicas, creating profitable digital afterlives in an uneven regulatory landscape.
The proliferation of celebrity AI content has triggered significant backlash from grieving families. Robin Williams’ daughter, Zelda Williams, publicly demanded fans stop sending AI-generated videos of her father, describing them as distressing violations of his memory. Zelda has repeatedly criticized these recreations as slop puppeteering that diminishes artistic integrity and reduces legacies to mere audiovisual resemblances. Many families face unsolicited AI content that complicates their mourning process, particularly as social media platforms become flooded with increasingly sophisticated deepfakes.
These digital resurrections span a wide range of content, from viral videos featuring Tupac Shakur and Steve Irwin to fake celebrity tribute songs misleading millions of viewers. AI tools like OpenAI’s Sora 2 have accelerated production capabilities, despite platform moderation policies that permit historical figures while restricting living public figures without consent. Musicians and entertainers are increasingly establishing sync deals to control how their work might be used posthumously in AI-generated visual media.
The ethical debate intensifies as deceased celebrities cannot refuse participation in new AI-generated content. Though content creators argue these videos represent artistic tributes, many critics view them as exploitative. As technology advances and legal frameworks evolve, society confronts fundamental questions about posthumous dignity, consent, and the ownership of one’s likeness beyond the grave.
