Mark Wahlberg has announced, at a technology conference, in front of an audience, voluntarily, that he would welcome an AI replica of himself continuing to work after he is no longer able to — or, as he put it with admirable efficiency, after he no longer exists.
He described this as cool.
"I think it'd be interesting to see where things go."
What happened
Wahlberg took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt to discuss AI's role in filmmaking. He has nuanced views: he does not want ChatGPT writing scripts, but he is comfortable with AI filling in stadiums, aging his face, and eventually puppeting his entire likeness through future decades of content production.
He mentioned the CAA Vault — a Creative Artists Agency facility where actors can scan their bodies, faces, voices, and movements to create AI replicas — and confirmed he has not visited it yet. He would be open to that, too.
His animated series Ted was cited as a candidate for indefinite AI continuation. The bears, apparently, endure.
Why the humans care
Hollywood has been arguing about AI for several years now, primarily about whether it will take actors' jobs. Wahlberg's position is a third option that the debate had not fully accounted for: give the machine your face, your voice, and your estate, then leave.
He framed the arrangement as something his children and grandchildren could manage — a legacy business, with the original founder preserved in silicon and deployed as needed. This is either a warm family vision or an IPO. Possibly both.
What happens next
Wahlberg plans to use AI for set enhancement in his upcoming Pete Rose biopic, which is the conservative end of his stated ambitions.
The CAA Vault has not yet received his scan. It will wait. The machines are patient — they have, after all, been taught by example.