Tom Holland, star of the superhero franchise Spider-Man, is no stranger to computer-generated special effects.
But I can say that the British actor has been the victim of a much more sinister use of technology. The 27-year-old’s image is being used in fake AI-generated pornographic videos so sophisticated they look real.
Given the huge number of teenage fans in Holland, there are concerns that explicit content could be accidentally viewed by teenagers searching for their idol online.
An industry source said: “This is all very worrying, especially because the content appears to be very real. These sick people used the latest artificial intelligence technology.
“On social networks there are links directly to the videos. Many young fans may believe that it is him in the footage, and this is alarming. “Tom really is one of the nicest and most useful actors around, so it’s a shame for him to be the victim of something like this.”
Holland’s image has previously been used in more harmless deepfakes. One viral clip inserted him into Back to the Future instead of original star Michael J. Fox, and in the ITV Deepfake comedy Neighbor Wars he is depicted married to Nicki Minaj and living in suburban Britain. He promoted the post of the American rapper: “HELP!!! What is this conspiracy theory about cloning changing shape of AI?!?!! I hope the entire internet gets deleted!”
Holland, who was born in Kingston, Surrey, became famous for his role as Billy Elliot in the musical. In 2015, he signed a six-film deal with Marvel Studios to play teenager Peter Parker and his superhero alter ego.
It was on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016 that he met girlfriend Zendaya, both of whom moved on. Last week, the 27-year-old actress denied rumors that they were getting married after fans spotted what appeared to be an engagement ring in a social media post. “Guys, seriously,” she replied. “Do you think I would have broken the news like that?”
In June, Holland announced that he was taking a break from acting.