George Clooney used his moment in the Venice Film Festival spotlight this week to raise an alarm about artificial intelligence - and how hard it's becoming to tell what's real.
The actor, in Venice to receive the festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, told reporters Wednesday that AI-generated content and deepfakes are eroding public trust faster than anyone can regulate. "It's getting harder and harder for us to discern the truth," Clooney said, warning that the danger goes beyond fake content fooling people. "Because you poison the well of saying 'maybe this is true, maybe this isn't,' then when you see real things that are really true, people are able to say, 'Well, that's fake.'"
Clooney said he's met with leading AI developers and isn't convinced current safeguards can keep pace with the technology. On a lighter note, he joked about one very personal fear: being digitally inserted into ads long after he's gone. "I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I'm dead," he said, only half-joking about how AI could one day put his likeness in projects he never agreed to.
He also predicted AI could eliminate up to 30 percent of entertainment industry jobs, particularly in visual effects, adding that Hollywood is "on our back foot" in adapting to the shift.
Clooney's warning taps into a concern far older than artificial intelligence. Scripture has long tied truth to freedom - "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32) - a reminder that discernment has always mattered, long before deepfakes made the truth harder to find.
Laura Dern presented Clooney with the honor, calling him "a lifeline to pure truth" on set.
