The film biz has adjusted to many technological innovations over the years, including the advent of home video, digital cameras and CGI. The latest development, artificial intelligence, is evolving with such great speed it is impossible to predict how it will impact filmmaking long-term. One thing is clear: AI has the potential to upend the industry.
In April 2023, Hollywood shut down for months after members of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild went on strike . One of the main concerns amid these disputes was “how to protect the livelihoods of union members from AI encroachment,” said Devin Gordon at The New York Times music fashion
Not everyone is concerned about AI’s takeover. On the contrary, many in the entertainment industry are embracing its tools.
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Benefits in innovation and cost
AI can be used to slash costs, a clear advantage in a struggling industry Variety
There are two broader categories of AI application: generative AI, which can be used to assist artists in creating work, and agentic AI, which can be used to complete tasks. An example of the latter: an AI tool called Callaia reads scripts and generates coverage reports — a job usually done by junior studio executives.
One prominent use for generative AI is aging or de-aging actors. Robert Zemeckis’ “Here,” a film starring Tom Hanks and made in collaboration with a visual-effects startup called Metaphysic, follows a character from age 18 to 80. It was necessary to age Hanks up and down, so Metaphysic created a digital version of the actor. Persuading audiences they were seeing Hanks in the bloom of youth would have normally “required hundreds of VFX artists, tens of millions of dollars and months of postproduction work” — and major studios “don’t spend that kind of money on movies like ‘Here,'” said Gordon.
Hanks was excited by the prospect of taking on roles he would otherwise be “too old” for. “I read stuff all the time and I think, ‘Oh, man, I’d kill to play this role, but I’m 68,'” he said to the Times.
‘Many potential misuses’
Perhaps the most obvious problem with AI’s Hollywood takeover is that it will eliminate jobs. In a January study surveying 300 leaders across the entertainment industry, “three-fourths of respondents indicated that AI tools supported the elimination, reduction or consolidation of jobs at their companies,” said The Hollywood Reporter sparked controversy
There are “many potential misuses” of AI, said Gordon, including appropriating actors’ likenesses without their permission. AI-generated replicas of dead performers have been used in movies like “Furiosa” and “Alien: Romulus.” Living actors may also start losing roles to dead ones. “For the voices of Mickey Mouse, Porky Pig, Snow White — every time a voice passes away, a new actor gets hired to play that voice,” said Tim Friedlander, founder of the National Association of Voice Actors, to the BBC
The quickness and cheapness of AI did not make “Here” a hit: The film currently sits at 36% on Rotten Tomatoes The Guardian
Still, the “Pandora’s box of AI has likely already been unleashed,” said the Reporter. “Most corners of production, from writers’ rooms to VFX departments, have embraced generative AI tools,” though many of them are doing so “quietly.” “They can’t admit it publicly because you still need artists for a lot of work,” David Stripinis, a VFX artist who worked on “Avatar” and Marvel titles, said to the Reporter. “Right now, it’s a PR problem more than a tech problem.”
