Will AI Destroy the Film Industry?

If we’ve learned one thing from movies, it’s how bad of an idea it is to let robots take over the world.

While the current strikes going on in Hollywood aren’t exactly trying to prevent an I, Robot-style catastrophe, many writers, visual effects (VFX) artists, and even actors are questioning whether an increasing dependence on AI is the best way to create their art.

Technology taking over human jobs is not a new phenomenon, but one that has been happening since the 19th century. Often, this new reliance on technology has freed humans to pursue advances in their fields, including the creative arts—but how far is too far? And what happens when technology advances start to eat away at those more creative, more human tasks?

As AI starts popping up more frequently in Hollywood, here are some considerations about AI in the film industry.

A Changing Industry and the Loss of Jobs

Many of the strikers in the film industry today are writers who see the use of AI in their field as detrimental to their craft and the excellence of their work. Generative AI models can be used to produce storylines and dialogue that attempt to mimic the kinds of content audiences enjoy. Writers are concerned they will be reduced to overqualified editors for poorly written AI scripts, or that film and television studios won’t be willing to pay humans to do excellent, original writing in the first place.

VFX artists have been using AI tools since the early 2000s, when movies like The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix utilized it in creating their virtual worlds and massive digital armies.

Of course, there’s no shortage of a need for high-end VFX today, and there’s less of a worry that AI innovations here will cannibalize jobs. Still, could the continued growth of AI-supported special effects eventually reduce the number of jobs for those artists? Or will it instead empower VFX artists to do even more amazing things?

Ethical Concerns

Another significant element to think through is the ethical aspect of using AI in film. There’s been lots of talk during the recent strike of a dystopian Hollywood future where studios leverage AI tools to use someone’s face and a generated recording of their voice to produce convincing content—no human actors needed (and no need to pay those pesky actors, either).

We’ve seen prominent posts from background actors on social media decrying potential abuses here. They allege that they have been asked to sign over a scan of their body and voice for AI-assisted production companies to use later on. Recent strikes want to establish guidelines and clarity around the use of these new techniques.

Ultimately, Can AI Replace Humans in the Arts?

All of this brings us to the ultimate questions: is AI going to destroy the film industry? And can AI truly replace humans in the creative arts?

Ultimately, it will be the viewers who determine whether and to what degree AI will disrupt the film industry. Many of those concerned about AI in the film industry are concerned about both quality and quantity: AI can work faster than human writers, which could lead to a glut of content. But will that content be worth watching?

It’s possible that increased AI usage and better tools will lead to more creativity and better production quality as human creatives offload more tasks to computers.

It’s also possible that, in the future, high-end prestige work (think Oppenheimer) will boast all-human artistry.

And only time will tell how the market will respond: if AI systems can create content that’s “good enough” to entertain, someone will probably find a way to monetize that content. But there’s also a risk of hyper-production via AI creating a plethora of mediocre choices that no one wants to watch.

Ultimately, there is room for AI to improve tasks outcomes within the industry, but there’s also potential for abuse and displacement. In the current strikes, writers and artists are taking important steps to ensure a future that still values human art as it also values the power that AI technologies can deliver.