Sean Astin warns US Congress: AI can steal your identity without consent

Sean Astin, LOTR's Sam, takes on AI at the Capitol

The actor who played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings has become an unexpected voice against artificial intelligence. Sean Astin, leader of an actors' union, testified before the United States Congress to denounce the risks of generative AI. His message: the technology makes it possible to impersonate anyone without their consent, a threat that goes far beyond the entertainment world.

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The danger of deepfakes and digital identity

Astin warned that AI tools can create fake videos indistinguishable from real ones, and called for clear labeling to be required on all artificially generated content. "This is not child prono, but it has dangerous ramifications," he said, referring to identity theft and disinformation. Some analysts compare the situation to the arrival of the tractor in farming: actors, like the dealers in working animals in the 1960s, are watching their trade potentially vanish within a generation.

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Selling image rights before you die: the new bubble?

While Astin calls for regulation, some are already monetizing their posthumous future. As noted in the debate, some performers are selling the rights to their likeness to be exploited after their death, a decision that recalls the intangible bets that made fortunes from the merchandising of deceased stars. The question hanging in the air is whether AI will generate new synthetic actors just as profitable as flesh-and-blood ones.

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With film and prono as industries of barely 50-100 years, and literature and painting with millennia of history, are we witnessing the twilight of the human performer, or a mutation whose direction we cannot yet foresee?