The Dangers of AI in Film
Article by Krubel Berhe | Art by Jillian Hartshorne
Since the dawn of time, human beings have expressed themselves and their culture through art. Entire civilizations have been explained to us through paintings and cave art. We’ve seen representations of love, life, and death by the swift swing of a paintbrush, a sharp camera angle, or poetic words spoken over a hypnotic rhythm. It’s how we communicate to others and is a key part of who we are as a society. However, this was threatened at the start of the decade when generative AI began to develop. It started as seemingly innocent and lighthearted, but gradually began seeping into the arts. Things like AI-generated covers of popular songs and official AI-generated posters for upcoming films began to pop up in late 2022. Most people write this off as nothing more than technological and societal advances, however, that couldn’t be farther from the truth and is quite the opposite. To put it plainly, the recent uprising of generative AI shows our society regressing and forgetting how beautiful it is to create something. However, there’s more to this than meets the eye, so allow me to elaborate.
There are benefits to having AI advances in the modern world, primarily in healthcare. Currently, drugs and treatments are being developed that wouldn’t have been found as quickly if it weren’t for AI. So, there is a place for AI, but that place shouldn’t be in the arts. Earlier this year, A24 released a series of AI-generated posters for their film “Civil War”. This was met with massive backlash by people calling this decision uninspired, and flat-out disgusting. For the past 10 years, A24 has prided itself on its drive to shine a light on up-and-coming creative artists who need a platform to grow. By releasing AI-generated posters for their biggest release of the year, they went against the reputation they spent a decade trying to gain. To add insult to injury, a week later after the release of these awful posters, an artist named Nuno Sarnadas created a poster for the film that received mass acclaim—furthering the point that art made by genuine artists will always be better than anything AI can “create”.
The first implementation of AI in a major film occurred with the release of “Late Night With The Devil” earlier this year. In a short segment of the film, there are AI-generated posters shown to emphasize the 70s atmosphere of the film, however, this short segment is more than enough to call for concern. The Cairnes brothers came out in an interview. They said, “To give this film the ‘70s aesthetic we had always imagined, we experimented with Ai for three still images which we edited further and ultimately appear as very brief interstitials in the film”. The definition of art is “the expression of or application of human creative skill and imagination” and the statement said by the Cairnes brothers goes completely against this. AI-generated things can never be classified as art because they aren’t made by human hands, but are lazily pushed out by an algorithm. This shows a complete lack of understanding of what you’re making and a disregard for all the artists who came before you.
Fortunately, several directors are taking a stand against this and staying true to their craft and passion. Renowned director Hayao Miyazaki has vehemently criticized the use of AI-generated techniques in filmmaking, describing them as “an insult to life itself.” Just last year, Miyazaki made his most personal and ambitious film to date with “The Boy and the Heron” showing how, despite his old age, he hasn’t lost his touch in the slightest. Meanwhile, up-and-coming filmmakers like Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow) and Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) have continued to dominate the film conversation this year with their innovative and captivating work. It’s easy to get disheartened by the current state of the film industry, but it’s truly uplifting to see that there are still so many directors infused with a burning passion for making authentic art.
In 1985, one of the greatest film auteurs to ever live, Andrei Tarkovsky published a biography titled “Sculpting in Time” where he expresses, “Relating a person to the whole world: that is the meaning of cinema”. Tarkovsky was an artist known for representing humanity and spiritual fulfillment in such a raw and honest way in his films, and as a result, was, and still is, seen as one of the best to ever do it. Making art isn’t easy, it’s infamous for how difficult and stressful it can be. One of the most prolific and acclaimed filmmakers, Francis Ford Coppola, famously almost went bankrupt making “Apocalypse Now”. However, the film was a massive success, grossing over 196 million dollars on a budget of 31 million dollars. It is now seen as one of the greatest films ever made, influencing many filmmakers for years to come. As you can see Making art is more than just one person trying to create something, but rather a collective of different artists and performers from all across the world. Creative minds who demand to be seen and leave a mark on the world, working together to make something worthy of their sacrifice. That is what making art is all about, and this burning passion and willingness to achieve new heights can never be replicated by a machine, but rather can only be created by those made of flesh and bone.
Sources:
https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/cinema-andrei-tarkovsky/
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/hayao-miyazaki-on-ai-utterly-disgusted/
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr659182085/
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/late-night-with-the-devil-ai-images-clarification-1235947599/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/a24-civil-war-posters-controversy-1235876340/
