Audrey Schomer Advances in deepfake technology raise the prospect that the day will soon come when the digital likeness of actors can be brought to life for movies and TV without their needing to even lift a finger. These likenesses have been variously referred to as personal avatars, digital twins or digital doubles. While entirely new synthetic personalities can be created, generative AI can also yield realistic replicas of celebrities. The prospect of acting avatars was thrust front and center last year when, months after Bruce Willis retired due to illness, he appeared in a commercial for a Russian wireless company thanks to an AI firm, Deepcake, that was able to re-create him. While it was erroneously reported he had sold off his performance rights to Deepcake, it turned out the commercial was more of a one-off usage of the actor’s likeness.