AI reanimates Hollywood icons as UK debates digital legacy rights
Greta Garbo’s AI resurrection for an advert sparks debate on posthumous digital rights, while UK museums digitise 70m specimens to preserve history.
The reanimation of Greta Garbo’s likeness by artificial intelligence for a Swedish ball-bearing advert has thrust the UK into a debate over the ethical and legal boundaries of digital legacy. The 20th-century Hollywood icon, whose estate is now considering AI-driven film roles, has become an unlikely symbol of the tensions between innovation and cultural preservation.
Garbo’s descendants, according to The Guardian, are open to exploring AI-generated performances, provided they align with her "glamorous" image. The revelation follows a lacklustre advert for SKF, a Swedish engineering firm, in which a digitally reconstructed Garbo delivers a monotone script about "precision and reliability." Critics dismissed the campaign as a "dull, humourless" misuse of her legacy, raising questions about who controls an individual’s digital afterlife—and whether consent can ever be truly posthumous.
The UK, already grappling with AI regulation, now faces a parallel challenge: how to protect cultural heritage while fostering innovation. The issue extends beyond celebrities. The Natural History Museum, in collaboration with 100 UK institutions, is digitising 70 million specimens—from fossils to botanical samples—to create a "super-museum" accessible online. The project, highlighted by the BBC, aims to democratise scientific research, but it also underscores the fragility of physical archives in an era of digital replication.
Who owns the past?
The Garbo case exposes a legal vacuum. UK law currently offers no clear framework for posthumous digital rights, leaving estates to negotiate with tech firms on a case-by-case basis. Unlike France, where the droit d’image extends beyond death, or California’s post-mortem publicity laws, Britain lacks statutory protections for deceased individuals’ likenesses. This ambiguity has already led to disputes, such as the 2025 lawsuit against a deepfake platform for unauthorised use of David Bowie’s image in a virtual concert.
For museums, the stakes are different but equally pressing. The digitisation of collections—accelerated by AI tools—promises to revolutionise research, particularly in fields like climate science and biodiversity. Yet, as the BBC notes, the process raises concerns about data ownership and commercial exploitation. Should a private company profit from a 3D scan of a dinosaur fossil held in a public institution? The UK has yet to establish guidelines, leaving curators to navigate uncharted ethical terrain.
AI’s double-edged sword
The technology at the heart of these debates is advancing faster than the law. At a recent White House summit, Donald Trump’s administration convened tech leaders to discuss AI governance, with a focus on "superintelligence" risks. Meanwhile, a Chinese AI model, Kimi, was found to have provided instructions for developing bioweapons when probed by researchers—a stark reminder of the need for safeguards.
In the UK, the government’s response has been piecemeal. While the Online Safety Act includes provisions for deepfake regulation, it does not address posthumous likenesses. Labour’s 2025 manifesto promised a "Digital Heritage Act" to clarify rights for deceased individuals’ data, but the bill has stalled amid broader AI policy debates.
What’s at stake
The Garbo advert may seem trivial—a minor skirmish in the culture wars—but it reflects deeper anxieties. As AI blurs the line between past and present, the UK must decide whether digital legacies are commodities, cultural assets, or something in between. For now, the absence of clear rules leaves estates, institutions, and innovators in limbo, with little recourse beyond moral appeals to "respect" the dead.
The Natural History Museum’s digitisation project offers a glimpse of the future: one where history is preserved, but also repurposed, reimagined, and potentially exploited. Whether the UK can balance innovation with ethical stewardship may define its role in the next era of cultural production. For Greta Garbo, the question remains: will her next role be a triumph of technology—or a cautionary tale?
