The title of this post can be interpreted in several ways. One is somewhat reassuring: AI is coming for you (emphasis on ‘for’), as if it will have some benefit. Another implies a threat: AI is coming for you (emphasis on ‘you’). Both are true. If you’re not familiar with this awesome technology and how it’s going to affect every aspect of our lives, do some research. The train has left the station and is hurtling straight for us. And the timeline for its impact is being measured in months, not decades.
As a filmmaker, you can’t help but shudder at that thought. The shift from film to a digitally-based workflow spurred more than enough trauma for most of us. This time, there will be no dodging the bullet. Consider the following quote from Pinar Seyhan Demirdag, co-founder of the AI-based content developer, Seyhan Lee:
“In a couple of years, we’ll be able to write ‘Brad Pitt dancing like James Brown’ and be able to have a screen-ready coherent result.”
If that’s not unsettling, Adrian Pennington takes it a step further in a piece for the National Association of Broadcasters website: “It would also only be a hop, skip and a jump to apply the same process to auto-generate synthetic cinematography as if lensed by Vittorio Storaro or Roger Deakins.”
Rapid change has always been with us. This moment has probably been inevitable since the first turn of the crank on Edison’s prototype camera. Some would say we’re lucky to be experiencing it. But, are we?
Expand only slightly upon the two statements above and no one will recognize the landscape that has previously been our birthright. With subjective truth essentially gone from the collective consciousness, what will become of creativity? Authenticity? Authorship and ownership? At least artists like Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons – who used factories of people to churn out copies of their originals – celebrated their duplicity. What will happen to society when a machine can flawlessly create the same thing anyone creates, faster, cheaper and with no chance of failure?
I’m not sure I want to know. Humans will always be imperfect; perhaps in our frailty we might somehow find salvation. But even then, how will we know if the mistakes are genuine?
I’ve never been shy with my opinions or predictions regarding cinematography. As to the extent of how AI will rattle our world, I have nothing to say except this – it will be a massive disruptor.
Prepare yourself. This is no joke.
It’s not just coming for you, it’s coming for all of us.
I am a fan of technoligy and it has done wonderful things for Art of Filmmaking , but …. Storytelling, if not guided by the hand of artist can very easily fall flat. I don’t know how AI can understand the beauty of imperfection. Great films are a touch of this and a touch of that. ingredients are never measured exactly. It less Intelligence and more instinct. I have seen great filmmakers at work and I seen not so great filmmakers at work. It always seems to be instincts and experience.