OPINION: AI is not a tool and shouldn’t be used in filmmaking

By Jimmy Burch

Previews roll inside a movie theater on April 7.

Photo by Jimmy Burch

I am a college student studying to become an actor and filmmaker. But for the past few

years, a major threat to Hollywood has come to light: Artificial Intelligence (AI for short). It

has been poisoning the industry for a while now. High executives are forcing it into the

work place, having people to either embrace the technology or be out of a job. This is

completely wrong. People who do not use AI work very hard and put a lot of effort into

their projects. For those who do use it, they are cheating around and not doing actual

work. And this is not just for the film industry, just about every other industry has also

been addicted to this technology brought in by rich tech bros who have been making too

much money for themselves.

I have heard claims on why AI would be a good thing. They say it can be a “tool” for

production projects and can save time and money. They also claim that it can boost the

industry and provide jobs for people. They promise that with AI, films can be more

enhanced and immersive.

This is nonsense however. AI is not a tool. It is a high tech cheating device. It is like a baby

walker. It is much easier and more convenient for sure, but it does not develop the work

skill. Even though it can speed up work and make things cheaper, it comes at a moral

cost. People who use the technology do not gain critical work skills that people who do not

use AI do. Furthermore, if AI is going to make work easier, it will require less people. That

means less people will have a job. Many CEOs these days like to do just about anything to

increase their profits despite having more than enough. This is yet just another petty

excuse for them to further enrich themselves. Also, I have seen movies before AI started

getting used. The CGI and other special effects in the early twenty-first century have

gotten great quality over the years. It already looks immersive enough. There is absolutely

no need for AI over here.

I do not care if AI helps with the production process. I believe in high quality hard work

that is 100% human-made. For a movie to be made without AI, it is much more rewarding

when it is completed and I can watch a movie knowing that a lot of people put in a lot of

effort into working on this. I love the film industry and I admire its history. I love how

traditional efforts helped bring a movie to life. To me, real filmmaking comes when people

put in their efforts to create a traditionally made film that has no AI of any kind in it. And if it

means using more time and money, so be it. AI has absolutely no place in filmmaking, or

in any other work industry at that. And I long for the day for this technology to be

abolished and people can start working without it again. The generations before us have

worked very hard without using any AI. If they can do it, why not us?