The news that Martin Scorsese is joining AI startup Black Forest Labs in an advisory role took the Hollywood trades by storm this week, and the response has been, well, full of backlash. That’s not entirely surprising, given the volatility of online discourse, particularly about AI. But the negative reaction to Scorsese comes as a surprise, in no small part because of how beloved the auteur is; he’s easily the most championed American director of his generation, whose influence seemingly knows no bounds.
If the comments Boots Riley made on X are any indication, the “I Love Boosters” director doesn’t fall under Scorsese’s sphere of influence. Variety reports that Riley had some choice words for Scorsese’s involvement with Black Forest Labs, and he didn’t hold back. “My guess: at 83, they gave his family a gang of money (they throw tens of millions left & right) he wanted the income stream 4 them & feels like “AI” will fall on its face anyway, so he doesn’t give a fck,” Riley said about Scorsese. “If that’s not the case, extra f*ck him. Separately, go see “I Love Boosters” today.”
Riley’s claim that Scorsese’s endorsement of AI is financially motivated is on-brand for the director, given the anti-capitalist sentiment of his work. But it’s Riley’s comment that Scorsese has sold out his cultural net-worth to legitimize AI in a follow-up tweet that’s even more excoriating. “Like – yeah the problem with filmmaking is we didn’t have the tools to be creative before this,” Riley continued. “To b clear, my vitriol is not about him using it, I’d likely simply sneer at that in private. It’s about him using his cache 2 promote this and attempt to push the industry toward it. They need him. 1 Trillion spent on generative AI & it’s not saving anyone or changing film yet.”
The long-term consequences of AI on filmmaking, and indeed other arts, professions, and society as a whole, remain unknown, but Riley’s commentary paints Scorsese’s involvement with Black Forest Labs as a betrayal. Is he right? That’s what the internet is hotly debating about right now, and in that case, it’s wise to look at what Scorsese truly wants to do with Black Forest Labs: using the generative technology as a resource for particular aspects of pre-production, with an emphasis on storyboarding. Fans of the director will no doubt know he’s always drawn up storyboards himself. Now 83, Scorsese may see AI technology as a new tool for visualizing shots and scenes more efficiently. That’s not relinquishing human creativity entirely to AI, but utilizing it for a specific feature of filmmaking (and one that would make other facets of making a movie, like art direction and cinematography, more efficient, too).
But then, using AI to “push the bounds of creativity,” as Scorsese put it to The New York Times, isn’t what Riley primarily takes umbrage at. Instead, it’s that Scorsese is using his reputation and credibility to push others to use AI, and he got paid to do so. So is Scorsese really is a sellout? On the one hand, Scorsese’s comments to the NYT echo his career-long engagement with the legacy and future of cinema: “Remember, cinema is a young medium, only around 125 years old, so we have to be open to how it can evolve,” he told the paper. So that’s consistent for Scorsese. On the other hand, when has Scorsese ever been motivated by money over artistic integrity in his career? If Riley is right in that Scorsese only endorsed Black Forest Labs to score a bag, as it were, that feels out of character for the auteur.
It may all come down to the foundation-shattering paradigm shift that AI brings to the fore on a global scale. In short, no one knows how deep of an influence AI’s generative technology will have on culture and society yet, but it will inevitably have one, because it’s already here, not going away, and there’s a lot of money flowing through it. Scorsese’s investment in Black Forest Labs could be read as Riley, and many other internet critics, are interpreting it: he’s an old man who’s lost his way, paid off to be duped by the pernicious greed that backs legitimizing AI in any and all capacities. But that’s agist, cynical, and frankly, not fair to Scorsese, a man who’s prized artistic agency over clout with studios his entire career. Backing Black Forest Labs could be less a handshake with the devil and more a determined engagement with AI’s unavoidable influence, and a chance for a director to use his influence to steer the use of technology in a more engaged and ethical direction.
The debate over the use of AI in film is far from over, but for Riley to announce that Scorsese “doesn’t give a fuck” feels shortsighted, even if his criticisms of the massive income stream behind legitimizing the technology are valid (and no doubt correct). Scorsese has always given a fuck about cinema, where it comes from, and where it’s going; teaming with Black Forest Labs may just be his latest fuck to give. Maybe this isn’t selling out so much as jumping into the trenches for the 83-year-old, despite the stench of unbridled capitalism permeating the air. If anything, everything surrounding AI remains unclear, but when the smoke clears, it’s a safe bet Scorsese won’t come out of it looking like a senile old fool who got conned by AI backers, like some people are suggesting.
Riley’s “I Love Boosters” is in theaters now. As for Scorsese? He just wrapped production on “What Happens At Night“ with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence; expect a late 2027 release for that film.
