Key Takeaways
- Jamie Lee Curtis publicly challenged Meta after a fake AI-generated ad using her likeness appeared on Instagram.
- The unauthorized ad, promoting a dental product, remained online for months despite her team’s repeated requests for removal.
- Curtis’s experience highlights a growing problem where AI is used to create misleading content featuring celebrities without their consent.
- The ad was only taken down after Curtis directly appealed to Mark Zuckerberg on social media, leveraging public attention.
- She is now calling for tech companies to implement better safeguards and provide clear channels for addressing AI misuse for everyone, not just public figures.
Jamie Lee Curtis found herself thrust into the spotlight of the AI debate when a fake advertisement using her image and voice began circulating on Instagram. She hadn’t sought this role, but felt compelled to act.
The ad, which she never endorsed, cleverly manipulated footage from an old MSNBC interview. Her voice was altered to make it seem as if she was promoting a dental product, an unsettling experience for the Oscar-winning actor.
“I was not looking to become the poster child of internet fakery, and I’m certainly not the first,” Curtis told the Los Angeles Times. The ad has since been removed.
This incident is part of a larger, troubling trend. Actors and other public figures, including Tom Hanks and Taylor Swift, have seen their likenesses hijacked by AI to promote things they never approved. Creating these fakes is easier than ever, and they spread rapidly online.
Curtis first learned about the fake ad about a month and a half ago. Her team immediately sent a cease and desist letter to Meta, Instagram’s parent company. Weeks passed with no response, a frustrating silence she described as “a vacuum.”
“There are no people. You can’t reach anybody,” Curtis said, explaining the difficulty in getting a response through official channels. The feeling of helplessness grew as the fake ad remained live.
Frustrated by the lack of recourse, Curtis worried about the potential for AI to be misused more broadly, even to attribute false statements to influential figures. “If you have no way of rectifying it, what do you do?” she questioned.
Driven by these concerns, she decided to escalate the issue publicly. Curtis posted on Instagram, directly tagging Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to ensure his team removed the misleading ad. Her post quickly gained widespread attention.
The public appeal worked. Curtis shared that after her post, and an email to a Meta contact provided by a neighbor, the fake ad was taken down within an hour. “It worked!” she exclaimed on Instagram, acknowledging the power of public pressure.
Meta confirmed the ad’s removal, stating it violated their policies against fraud and deceptive practices. However, the incident has amplified calls for social media companies to more effectively police AI-generated misinformation.
The rise of AI technology and its potential for misuse was a key concern during the 2023 Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes, with unions advocating for stronger protections.
Curtis hopes her experience will lead to better systems. She stressed the need for tech companies to establish clear, accessible ways for anyone, not just celebrities, to report and swiftly remove harmful AI-generated content. “I want to represent everyone,” she stated.
