Avatar director James Cameron thinks "we haven't learned how to control" generative AI in movies yet, as he describes Hollywood's current situation as "the Wild West". Ahead of the release of the highly anticipated threequel Avatar: Fire and Ash, the legendary director has offered his thoughts on the use of AI and the dangers of replacing human artists.
"I can't think of anything coming up that is bigger and more important to us right now than confronting this generative AI issue," he told Screendaily from New Zealand, where he is wrapping post-production on the upcoming Avatar movie.
"It is critical that we master it and control it so that it remains an artistic tool and it doesn't replace artists," he continued. "The idea that this technology could potentially replace actors and the unique lens that every artist brings is horrifying… The new tools have the possibility of doing great harm because they can replace an actor or they can synthesize an actor who is dead."
Cameron warned that "there are some very dangerous things ahead of us right now", but he clarifies that he has "never been afraid of new technology." Indeed, his work from The Abyss to Titanic has always been at the cutting edge of new visual effects technology in Hollywood.
"I want to learn it, I want to master it for myself, then use my own best judgment about how I apply it to my personal art," he explained, saying that generative AI could facilitate complicated productions, bringing down costs and time. "It takes me four years to make an Avatar movie, so I think about how great it would be if I could do it in three years or two years," he said.
"Movies are very, very expensive now," Cameron added, "and it seems to me that the cinema is becoming less important to the world at large, which is horrifying as well after spending 42 years making movies to be seen in movie theatres. We're not seeing as many movies getting greenlit and getting made of the type that I love – the fantasy, the phantasmagorical, science fiction, big, visually opulent films."
It's not the first time the filmmaker talks candidly about the use of AI in movies. Only a few days ago, he called AI one of our biggest "existential threats" that could lead to "a Terminator-style apocalypse."
Next up for Cameron Avatar: Fire and Ash, which arrives in theaters on December 19. For more, check out our guide to the rest of this year's biggest upcoming movies.
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