Zelda Williams, daughter of the late actor and comedian Robin Williams, has publicly denounced the proliferation of AI-generated videos featuring her father, calling the content “dumb” and a “waste of time.” In a series of Instagram posts, she criticized the trend of AI recreations of deceased celebrities, which have gained traction on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
“I beg you, stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” Williams wrote. “Stop thinking I want to see them or that I’ll understand—I don’t and I won’t.” She added, “If you’re trying to troll me, I’ve seen worse. But please, if you have any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone, full stop.”
Williams described the use of AI to replicate her father’s image as “gross” and “maddening,” arguing that it reduces real people’s legacies to “digital copies made for clicks and entertainment.” She accused creators of turning lives into “over-processed hotdogs” for superficial engagement. “You’re not making art—you’re exploiting history, music, and the lives of human beings for likes,” she wrote.
In a follow-up post, Williams urged creators to stop framing AI as innovation. “Stop calling it ‘the future,'” she said. “AI is just recycling the past to be consumed again.” She criticized the process as akin to “the Human Centipede of content,” where those at the “end of the line” suffer while others profit.
Robin Williams, who died by suicide in 2014, was later found to have suffered from Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurological disorder linked to depression and cognitive decline. His son, Zak Williams, had previously discussed his father’s mental health struggles during a 2020 appearance on “The Dr. Oz Show.”
