Matthew Lawrence Proposes AI Revival of Robin Williams' Voice, Sparking Ethical Debate

Robin Williams' 'Mrs. Doubtfire' co-star reveals wild plan to revive...

Matthew Lawrence wants to resurrect Robin Williams with a modern-day twist. Lawrence, 45, told Entertainment Weekly at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend that he wants his "Mrs. Doubtfire" co-star -- who died by suicide at age 63 in 2014 -- to become the new "voice of AI." "I would love -- now, obviously, with the respect and with the okay from his family -- but I would love to do something really special with his voice because I know for a generation, that voice is just so iconic," Lawrence said. "It's not just the fact that I knew him and worked with him and so it's in my head -- it's in everybody's head," the actor added. "And it would be so cool." The idea, according to Lawrence, recently came to him when he was watching an old television commercial with Williams' voice. "It's kinda like this very contemporary, modern, almost sort of foreshadowing of what's going on commercial that he did, where he did this computerized voiceover," Lawrence explained. "And it always stuck with me." "And then, during his passing, with the AI coming out, I'm like, 'Man, he's gotta be the voice of A.I. He's gotta be the voice in something,'" the "Boy Meets World" star continued. "So yeah, I would love to do that." Lawrence added that there's endless possibilities with using Williams' voice as AI, including for navigation on cellphones. "It would be Robin!" Lawrence happily stated. "It would be so cool. I'm telling you." During the SAG-AFTRA strike in Oct. 2023, Williams' daughter, Zelda Williams, put out a statement slamming the use of AI to recreate the late comedian. "I am not an impartial voice in SAG's fight against AI," Zelda, 35, wrote on social media. "I've witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad." "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," Zelda continued. "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." Lawrence was a preteen when he played Williams' son, Chris Hillard, in 1993's "Mrs. Doubtfire." At the first annual '90s Con in 2022, Lawrence recalled how Williams -- who struggled with substance abuse before his death -- warned him to "stay away" from drugs while they were shooting the film together. "[Williams] was very serious. He was like, 'You know when you come to my trailer and you see me like that?'" Lawrence shared. "He's like, 'That's the reason why. And now I'm fighting for the rest of my life because I spent 10 years doing something very stupid every day. Do not do it.' I stayed away from it because of him." In April, Lawrence told EW that the "Jumaji" star also gave him two important life lessons: the "type of compassion you need to have for people" and how you "don't judge until you walk in someone else's shoes." "He really quantified what it was to be a real artist for me in the sense that he was definitely," Lawrence said, "and I worked with some great people, and he was definitely the most brilliant artist I've ever worked with."

Robin Williams' Voice Should Be Revived Using AI, Mrs Doubtfire Co-star Says - IGN

Robin Williams' Mrs Doubtfire co-star has suggested the late actor's voice should be revived using AI. Matthew Lawrence, who played Williams' young son in the film, has said he'd "love" to see the legendary voice behind Aladdin's Genie brought back via artifical intelligence. The star of countless films including Jumanji, Patch Adams and Night at the Museum, Williams died by suicide in 2014, aged just 63, after receiving a Parkinson's diagnosis. "I would love -- now, obviously, with the respect and with the OK from his family -- but I would love to do something really special with his voice," Lawrence told Deadline during an interview at San Diego Comic-Con, "because I know for a generation, that voice is just so iconic. "It's not just the fact that I knew him and worked with him and so it's in my head -- it's in everybody's head," Lawrence continued. "And it would be so cool." While a handful of actors have given permission for their voice to be reproduced using AI, the practice remains highly controversial. Protection from the encroaching use of AI was a key trigger for the recent video game voice actor's strike, and numerous stars have voiced concern over the fact their vocal likenesses have been used without their permission. Fortnite recently raised eyebrows when it allowed fans to chat away with a digital reproduction of the voice of Darth Vader, as originally provided by late actor James Earl Jones. Jones had previously agreed for his performance as Darth Vader to live on after his death, and Lucasfilm had itself used AI to create new dialogue for Darth Vader in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Still, it took mere hours for players to get Fortnite's Darth Vader saying things he definitely should not have been saying, before developer Epic Games swiftly stepped in with an update. So, why does Robin Williams' former co-star think the actor should be reproduced via AI? According to Lawrence, his idea comes from Williams once voicing a "computerized voiceover" in a commercial. "It's kinda like this very contemporary, modern, almost sort of foreshadowing of what's going on commercial that he did, where he did this computerized voiceover," Lawrence said. "And it always stuck with me. And then, during his passing, with the AI coming out, I'm like, 'Man, he's gotta be the voice of AI. He's gotta be the voice in something.' So yeah, I would love to do that." Image credit: Peter Kramer/Getty Images