Zelda Williams Calls Out AI Videos of Her Father Robin Williams: “It’s Gross and Not What He’d Want”
Zelda Williams, the daughter of beloved comedy legend Robin Williams, has once again spoken out against the rise of AI recreations of her late father.
The Lisa Frankenstein director took to Instagram to make one thing very clear, she’s had enough of people sending her AI-generated videos that attempt to mimic her dad.
“Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” Zelda wrote in her Instagram story. “Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t.
“If you’re just trying to troll me, I’ve seen way worse, I’ll restrict and move on. But please, if you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop.
“It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want.”
Her frustration didn’t stop there. Zelda expressed how painful it is to see her father’s memory being digitally reanimated for social media clout.
“To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening,” she continued.
“You’re not making art, you’re making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings, out of the history of art and music, and then shoving them down someone else’s throat hoping they’ll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross.”
Zelda concluded her message with a passionate critique of the tech being glorified as progress.
“And for the love of EVERY THING, stop calling it ‘the future,’ AI is just badly recycling and regurgitating the past to be re-consumed. You are taking in the Human Centipede of content, and from the very very end of the line, all while the folks at the front laugh and laugh, consume and consume.”
This isn’t the first time Zelda has called out the use of AI to recreate her father. Back in 2023, during the SAG-AFTRA strike when AI replication became a major topic in Hollywood, she shared her deep discomfort with the trend.
“I am not an impartial voice in SAG’s fight against AI,” Zelda wrote at the time. “I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real.”
She added, “I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.
“Living actors deserve a chance to create characters with their choices, to voice cartoons, to put their HUMAN effort and time into the pursuit of performance.
“These recreations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people, but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for.”
Robin Williams’ impact on comedy, film, and pop culture remains immeasurable. Fans continue to celebrate his legacy through his classic performances in films like Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Will Hunting, and Aladdin.
But Zelda’s plea serves as an important reminder that behind every icon is a family and that using AI to resurrect the voices of the departed can cross deeply personal and ethical boundaries.
As Hollywood continues to navigate the evolving relationship between technology and artistry, Zelda’s words cut to the heart of the issue: respect for creativity, humanity, and the legacies of those who gave so much of themselves to the craft.