Zelda Williams is taking a stand against AI. The actress and director, whose father, the world-renowned star Robin Williams, passed away in 2011, recently called netizens out online for using AI. The comment came after an AI-generated video of the ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ actor had started going viral online. The filmmaker urged people to stop using the late actor’s likeness and voice for messages that he never consented to.
Zelda Williams calls out a recent viral AI video of father Robin Williams
Taking to her Instagram account on September 21, Zelda addressed the recent video of her father that has gone viral online, clarifying that it is not real and has instead been made using AI. Not only that, but she condemned the people who had created the video originally and everyone who had reshared and supported it as well.In her post, she wrote, “For those still being duped by falsehoods, that supposedly ‘private video’ of Dad that I’ve been shown talking about conspiracies is clearly AI, and not even particularly convincing AI.” She further added, “Anyone who claims to be a fan and believes it clearly listened to his movies on mute because that voice is robotic and terrible.”She talked about how AI should not be used in such a context to create messages that her father never took part in and specifically took a jab at the person involved in creating the viral video. She mentioned, “That said, a human made a robot to create it, and to you I say: leave him out of your delusional bulls—and let him rest. If you cannot make your case without making a dead man make it more convincing for you, then tell me: who’s the one manipulating the public through media now?”She concluded her post by adding, “At this point I’m not sure why I feel the need to come back to clarify, but I love him, so I will. Just because he’s gone does not mean he’s now your puppet. Have some shame.”
Zelda Williams condemns social media users for using AI to recreate videos of her father (Instagram)
Zelda Williams says that she has always been against the use of AI
In her stories, she continued and shared that she has always “abhorred” the concept of AI and does not condone the blatant use of the technology to target her father of all people.She also commented, “I am not an impartial voice in SAG’s fight against AI. I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical; it is very, very real.” She also wrote, “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.” In another post, she called people out for using such technology and how it takes away consent from the person whose image is being used to create such false videos.
Not the first time that Zelda Williams has called out AI usage
This is not the first time that Zelda has made her opinion known on AI-generated videos of her father. In 2025, she had to request that fans and netizens stop sending her images and videos of her father that they had made using AI technology. On October 6, 2025, she put up a story and wrote, “If you’re just trying to troll me, I’ve seen way worse; I’ll restrict and move on. But please, if you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone, even, full stop.”Robin Williams, who was best known for his roles in films including ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Good Will Hunting,’ ‘Dead Poets Society,’ and ‘Mrs. Doubtfire,’ passed away by suicide on August 11, 2014. He was 63 at the time of his passing.