Make it a blockbuster night

The Future. New generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney are becoming Hollywood’s biggest competitors by producing film scenes and stills that look good enough to be real. Ironically, they’re even creating content that appears less computer-generated than Hollywood movies, even though they’re totally computer-generated. While imaginative user prompts can’t replace good scripts, they might be able to deliver feature-length films with all the trappings of a Hollywood blockbuster – including A-list actors –  from the comfort of users’ homes.

Aspiring filmmakers
Most AI tools on the market can only generate texts of 1,500 words or less, which hinders them from producing actual screenplays. But the tech is quickly evolving, reports Vulture.

• ChatGPT understands story logic and can recommend a decent twist ending.
• Meta and Google have announced software that translates prompts into videos.
• The AI tool Phenaki can produce entire film scenes.
• An AI app from the company D-ID can make people in still photos blink and read from a script.

The wild west
Because AI tools learn from existing content but don’t reference the content that they learned from, their material presents a troubling conundrum for Hollywood agencies and law firms.

“These tools are exciting, but what’s important is that the companies behind them respect the talent and get consent for names, images, and likenesses,” Joanna Popper, CAA’s chief metaverse officer, tells Vulture. “We want to protect creators so that they have the opportunities to monetize their work and images and so others aren’t able to exploit them.”

Pandora’s box of generative AI tools can’t be closed once it’s been opened. Hollywood can prepare for a messy future in which IP law will have to catch up to the new tech. And we can expect the discussion around fair standards and practices to continue…