The miracle of AI: many famous people continue to make money in spades from the afterlife

James Dean may have died tragically in 1955, but his heirs are still profiting off the legendary American actor nearly 70 years after his death. And AI is largely responsible for such a miracle. Last July the heirs of the protagonist of Rebel without a cause and other famous celebrities such as Judy Garland, Laurence Olivier and Burt Reynolds signed an agreement with the AI ​​startup ElevenLabs to clone their voices.

Under this agreement, the voices of such iconic actors can be used to narrate books, articles and other text-based materials stored in the Reader by ElevenLabs app. With the invaluable help of AI, good old Judy Garland can read, for example, the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from L. Frank Baum and also, if the user so desires, his own tax return.

The business of profiting from celebrities who have sadly passed away is by no means new and has always proven to be extraordinarily lucrative. Although Michael Jackson died in 2009 leaving a debt of around $500 million, his heirs have amassed a fortune of more than $2 billion since then thanks to new-generation musical projects inspired by the work of the iconic American singer. However, with the arrival of generative AI on the scene, The posthumous income generated by Michael Jackson and other deceased celebrities does not necessarily have to be anchored in their old work, but often emanates from entirely new works.

Mark Roesler, an intellectual property attorney, has represented more than 3,000 celebrities, many of whom are now deceased, and signed 30,000 contracts on their behalf since he founded CMG Worldwide Inc. four decades ago. Roesler’s portfolio includes celebrities such as Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Jerry Garcia.

Income from royalties of deceased celebrities potentially takes a boost with the arrival of AI

Celebrities make money during their lifetime from services they provide on a personal level (songs and films, for example) and from intellectual property rights. When a celebrity dies, they are deprived of their primary source of income, but not their first source, which goes to fill the coffers of their heirs. Before the emergence of generative AI, Revenue from intellectual property rights of deceased celebrities used to shrink by around 10% each year, but now they can potentially take offRoesler said in a statement to Bloomberg.

Travis Cloyd, founder and CEO of Worldwide XR, has, for example, managed to get James Dean into the casting of a “remake” of the film East of Edenwhich is currently in production, thanks to the wonders of AI.

To create a digital replica of a famous deceased person with the help of AI, video and audio files recorded not only in professional contexts but also in much more personal contexts are used.Such data is then processed by machine learning technology to create a digital clone of the deceased celebrity, which is then further refined with the help of body doubles.

Almost a decade ago, a similar technique was used to allow Paul Walker to make his way into the film Fast & Furious 7 and that Peter Cushing could do the same in Rogue One. Much more recent, on the other hand, is the use of this technology to “resurrect” the actor Ian Holm, who died in 2020, in the film Alien: Romulus.which was released this summer. The much-vaunted “resurrection” of Ian Holm in this film provoked fierce criticism, even though the actor’s widow and children had given their blessing to his digital cloning with the help of AI.

The controversy over the digital replica of Ian Holm in Alien: Romulus It is not too surprising in any case, since The use of AI was at the forefront of last year’s overseas actors’ strike.

According to Cloyd, There is a good chance that AI projects will be the main source of income for the heirs of deceased celebrities within the next five years.“With the rise of digital platforms, streaming video services and virtual experiences, there are many opportunities for celebrities to continue to monetize their legacy from beyond the grave,” he says.

That AI can potentially be very lucrative for celebrities (both living and dead) is demonstrated, for example, by the show “ABBA Voyage”which opened in London in May 2022 and generates more than $2 million a week from ticket sales for concerts featuring virtual avatars of the members of the legendary Swedish band.

The digital “resurrection” of celebrities with the help of AI also has its detractors

The use of AI to “revive” deceased artists is not, however, convincing to everyone. This is the case of Jeff Jampol, who manages the rights of singers such as Janis Joplin and The Doors and who has already rejected outright offers to replicate Jim Morrison’s voice. “I really can’t allow something to come out of Jim Morrison’s mouth that he never actually said. It would be like a parody,” he stresses. “The way he lived, what he said and what he created is what builds the legacy of an artist. And I can’t change that,” Jampol emphasises.

The biggest test for AI will likely come in the spring of next year, when the show «Elvis Evolution» premieres in LondonThis will be the King of Rock & Roll’s first concert in over 45 years thanks to an ambitious amalgamation of AI and virtual reality.

«Our show is not fiction and is based on Elvis’s real-life concerts, his gestures and the characteristics of his voice»explains Andrew McGuinness, founder and CEO of Layered Reality, the company that will produce the show. “Elvis Evolution” painstakingly analyzed hundreds of hours of Elvis Presley performances and home videos to create a holographic replica of the American singer as realistic as possible.