Tom Hanks believes artificial intelligence means he will continue acting from the grave

Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away. Photo / Supplied

Tom Hanks appears to love acting so much, he is planning to do it from his grave.

The 66-year-old actor revealed while appearing on a recent podcast that he believes AI means there’s a genuine possibility he could keep appearing in movies after he’s dead.

Admitting there are discussions going on in Hollywood to protect actors’ likenesses in the wake of developments being made in artificial intelligence technology, the Cast Away star is convinced audiences wouldn’t be able to tell if it was really him giving a performance or a computer-generated image.

Speaking on the Adam Buxton Podcast, he said: “I can tell you that there is discussions going on in all of the guilds, all of the agencies, and all of the legal firms in order to come up with the legal ramifications of my face and my voice and everybody else’s being our intellectual property.

”What is a bona fide possibility right now is, if I wanted to, I could get together and pitch a series of seven movies that would star me in them in which I would be 32 years old from now until kingdom come.

Tom Hanks at the 75th international film festival, Cannes. Photo / AP

”Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deep fake technology. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but performances can go on and on and on and on.

”Outside the understanding of AI and deep fake, there’ll be nothing to tell you that it’s not me and me alone.

“And it’s going to have some degree of lifelike quality. That’s certainly an artistic challenge but it’s also a legal one.”

The Elvis star acknowledged an AI-generated version of himself could end up appearing in projects he wouldn’t usually have chosen, but he’s not convinced audiences will care that they aren’t watching the real him.

He said: “Without a doubt people will be able to tell [that it’s AI], but the question is will they care? There are some people that won’t care, that won’t make that delineation.”

- Bang! Showbiz