George Clooney has warned that the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology could erode public trust and make it increasingly difficult to distinguish truth from fiction.
Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, where he is receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, Clooney said developments in AI were creating growing challenges for the public, governments and the media, according to reports.
"It's getting harder and harder for us to discern the truth," Clooney said, warning that rapid advances in technology could lead people to question even authentic evidence.
"Worse than that, 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'," he said.
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The two-time Oscar winner said he had recently met leading AI experts but was not convinced that existing safeguards would be able to keep pace with the rapid development of the technology.
He also joked about the possibility of his likeness being used after his death.
"Everyone's working furiously at it, and I haven't seen any great strides yet in success," he said.
"I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I'm dead," Clooney added.
The actor also raised concerns about the concentration of media ownership among a small number of wealthy individuals and its implications for journalism.
Referring to Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, Clooney said: "The richest people in the world right now are owning the Washington Post and Twitter and most of the places we get our information, and that is a concern."
"The state of journalism is always in flux, always challenged," he said. "But I do believe that information will find its way out."
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Clooney also expressed doubts about Paramount's planned acquisition of Warner Bros., saying media consolidation was difficult to execute and often resulted in job losses.
"I don't see how it financially ends up making sense ... but we'll see," he said.
Clooney, who reflected on ageing while discussing receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at 65, also injected humour into the conversation.
"Everything is melancholy," he said. "You brush your teeth and think: 'My teeth used to be so much nicer.'"
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