Recently, Joe Russo (the filmmaker behind “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”) made headlines for comments he made about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) usage in media. He predicted that within two years, there will be a person who generates a full feature film using only AI. That’s a bold claim, but with the recent advances in the technology, it’s not completely crazy. In fact, with the WGA strike, there are serious concerns about studios using generative AI to create scripts and lower the pay of human writers. Now, in a new interview with Variety, Joe Russo dives a bit deeper into his thoughts on AI and how it could be abused in the entertainment industry.
READ MORE: Joe Russo Says An AI-Generated Film Will Be A Reality In Just 2 Years
Back to that recent discussion, where he predicted an AI film in two years, Joe Russo also advocated for the use of AI by consumers to help generate their own stories. In the most basic sense, it’s the democratization of storytelling, giving everyone access to the tools of filmmaking and much, much more. But, in the new interview, he warns that AI could be used by corporations in more nefarious ways, eliminating jobs and diminishing creativity.
“I think everyone should be scared of AI,” Russo said. “I don’t know if you’ve heard any of the Drake ‘songs’ that have been dropping on social media, but it’s here. It’s not going anywhere.”
For those unaware, the Drake music discussion came about after someone created a new song using AI that mimicked the style and voice of Drake. To the untrained ear, it sounds exactly the same as Drake, but the song was created without the performer and has people wondering what the rules are for copyright. Can you copyright a song that sounds similar to another artist?
That same sort of idea could be applied to film and TV. What if a studio were to use generative AI to write a script that is similar to “Avengers?” Or a TV show that is similar to “Barry?” Then you hire a writer to come in and mold it into something worthwhile and suddenly, AI has created something new, but also probably inferior. Nevertheless, a studio could make a lot of money off of it, right? That’s when things get scary.
“When the creatives are engaged and the creatives are spearheading the use of technology — look at James Cameron’s entire career — that technology ends up in service of artists rather than vice versa,” he explained. “If corporations drive the adoption of that technology, it might be a different story.”
So, it might seem as if Joe Russo is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He is championing the use of AI to democratize storytelling. However, he’s also warning about the evils of this type of technology. But there is a big difference between the situations, and it’s understandable why creative folks would be scared of generative AI.
To say this is a complicated, messy topic right now is a gross understatement.