AI is giving life to a resurrection economyAI is giving life to a resurrection economy

As AI tools become more sophisticated, they’re increasingly being used to imitate the voices of the dead, with and without permission. It can be big business. According to an industry source with knowledge of deals between estates and AI companies that reproduce voices, they are typically paid out to estates in cash ranging between five and seven figures.

• Take Val Kilmer, who died in 2025: he’ll appear via AI in the upcoming historical drama “As Deep as the Grave.” Kilmer’s AI-generated likeness (he signed on to the film years ago but never made it onto set) will reportedly be in more than an hour of the finished film, with his estate’s permission.
• Or James Earl Jones — the iconic voice behind Darth Vader — who reached an agreement before his death with Disney’s Lucasfilm to recreate his voice using AIfor future “Star Wars” projects. But he may not have agreed to his Vader-voiced “Fortnite” character, if he knew users would make the Sith Lord say “skibidi toilet” and various curse words.
• Meanwhile, ElevenLabs lets users have text, PDFs, links, and audiobooks read aloud by departed stars such as Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, John Wayne, Albert Einstein, and more (all with permission), and enough people are ponying up the $11-a-month fee that it’s sent the company’s valuation soaring.
• But AI is far from a pure boon for estates. CMG Worldwide, a legacy management firm with a client list including Jim Henson, Andre the Giant, and James Dean, refers to AI as an “unprecedented threat.” 
• And Zelda Williams, film director and daughter of Robin Williams, urged fans in a story on Instagram to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her father. “I concur concerning my father,” Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., wrote, adding, and we couldn’t agree more, “Please stop.”

The Takeaway

Imitating the dead for financial gain is nothing new, but what’s clear is that AI is making it easier — and harder to discern from the real thing than, say, a person in an Elvis jumpsuit singing in a casino. 

Meanwhile, the public’s view on this use of AI leans heavily negative, with one survey finding that 51% of respondents said replicating the voice of a deceased actor or celebrity was “not acceptable.” Still, the number of AI deals that involve “bringing back” dead celebrities continues to grow every day, as do the profits.