Kelsey Grammer Sounds Alarm on AI Deepfakes Threatening Hollywood’s Authenticity

Hollywood icon Kelsey Grammer, beloved for his roles in Frasier and Cheers, is sounding the alarm on the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in Tinseltown, warning of its potential to distort reality. The award-winning actor recently shared his unease about AI-generated deepfakes, which can manipulate images and videos to create eerily convincing fabrications.

"It’s a strange game out there," Grammer told WTFNewsRoom. "The same folks pointing fingers at deepfakes are often the ones playing the trickster. It’s a slippery slope."

While Grammer acknowledges AI’s benefits—particularly in fields like medicine—he’s wary of its darker side. "AI can fabricate someone’s identity in seconds," he noted, expressing concern over its ability to erode authenticity. He’s particularly cautious about artificial general intelligence (AGI), a future stage of AI that could rival human cognition across any task.

"AI’s only as good as the humans behind it," Grammer said. "But now it’s self-teaching, and who knows where that leads? It’s like giving a script to a computer and expecting Shakespeare."

As an actor who’s spent decades bringing human depth to scripted roles, Grammer remains skeptical that AI can capture the spontaneity of a real performance. "A human’s unpredictability is what makes art compelling," he said. "No algorithm can match that spark."

Grammer’s call for integrity in the face of advancing technology resonates as Hollywood grapples with AI’s growing influence. His latest memoir, Karen: A Brother Remembers, reflects his commitment to authentic storytelling, available now wherever books are sold.