The way artificial intelligence (A.I.) is going to be used in the film industry is still relatively unknown. We know there’s a way for generative A.I. to perhaps write scripts. And over the past several months or so, we’ve seen A.I. create compelling videos. That said, it’s still up for debate about how creators or studios will use it in the process of filmmaking. One thing is for sure: Guillermo del Toro is no fan.
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Speaking at a Q&A at BFI Southbank following a screening of “Pinocchio” as part of their Stop Motion season, Guillermo del Toro talked about generative A.I. and its effect on the film industry. The filmmaker isn’t all that concerned by it for one main reason—A.I. can’t create true art.
“A.I. has demonstrated that it can do semi-compelling screensavers. That’s essentially that,” said del Toro. “The value of art is not how much it costs and how little effort it requires, it’s how much would you risk to be in its presence? How much would people pay for those screensavers? Are they gonna make them cry because they lost a son? A mother? Because they misspent their youth? Fuck no.”
Unfortunately, while there are plenty of filmmakers out there that only want to create works of art when you put money into the mix, suddenly, you can see how a studio would forgo the idea of “art” and embrace the delivery of “content.” So, even though A.I. (at this time, at least) can’t create real art, we’ve seen how it can possibly be used to create content.
Ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see how A.I. technology advances and whether or not we’ll live in a world where we have A.I.-driven filmmaking. Honestly, let’s hope it truly never gets that far.
Guillermo Del Toro on AI, emotion and the value of art.
— BFI (@BFI) September 17, 2024
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