How are film production companies handling AI?
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Most of us grew up with movies that tackled the concept of Artificial Intelligence, whether that came in the form of the pure-hearted outsider that saw the beauty of humanity like Wall-E (2008), or the emotionless killer that seeks to bring humanity’s end like The Terminator (1984). However, in recent years, Artificial Intelligence—AI—is now an everyday conversation topic, not just a work of film. And though we are quite far from it developing any sort of capacity for emotion or drive to exterminate all of humanity, we do need to figure out what to do with AI now that it is here. How do we decide where AI belongs, and where it has no place?
One place where people are torn on where AI belongs seems to be film. There are some who think it could be used in the process, be it on the scripts or perhaps the animation. Then, there are others who think AI should be as far from the process of human creativity and artistic creation as possible.
In 2023, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) went on a strike in order to ensure that Hollywood and film made no effort to replace writers with AI. As summarized in an article by The Guardian, the WGA thankfully had their demands met, with promises that AI would not replace writers in script writing and assurances that AI would not be used to create any “source material,” such as a novel, that a film would then be made off of. However, this does not mean AI would be cut from all film writing. The same article confirms that writers are still allowed to use AI to aid their own writing, it just cannot be imposed upon them by the studio heads.
Even beyond writing, AI has managed to find its way into other aspects of film and their making. The popular film and entertainment company, Disney, has openly announced partnerships with Open AI Sora. According to The Hollywood Reporter, some of their plans included changing their streaming platform, Disney+, to allow users the ability to “create user generated content and to consume user generated content…from others.” This plan was later cancelled when Sora was shut down by Open AI, which an article on Variety confirms. While this plan does not seem to have been revived by Disney with any other AI, it does demonstrate the company’s willingness to work with AI.
Disney is not the only one. An interview with Variety tells us that the film production company A24 has partnered with a Google AI, DeepMind, in order “to develop new AI-powered technologies for filmmakers.” It is worth noting that this does not mean there will be any sort of AI involved with the production of the films that A24 is making as of yet, especially in terms of writing or acting and animating. However, just as with Disney, it shows the company’s willingness to partner with AI, which is enough to worry some fans about what it means for the future of the company.
There is one film production company that has taken a stand against AI: Dreamworks. On top of being yet to form a partnership with an AI company, Dreamworks has made an effort to ensure that their films will not fall to AI. At the end of their most recent releases, such as Forgotten Island (2026), Dreamworks is said to have put a disclaimer at the end of the credits in order to ensure that these films could not be used to train AI, according to an article on omelete.
No longer a thing of science-fiction, AI is now a part of the world we live in, and it would seem that not all film production companies are quite on the same page about how to handle it. As we hurtle toward the new age, we must keep watch, and see how AI and films interact in the future.