Hugh Grant Movie Director Warns Against Use of AI in Arts
By Movieguide® Contributor
The credits of Hugh Grant’s newest movie slam AI, a sentiment shared by the directors who warn against its uptake in the entertainment industry.
“No generative AI was used in the making of this film,” the end credits say, per Variety, a message the filmmakers felt was extremely important to include.
“We have no illusions that when people watch HERETIC they’re going to go, ‘Wait, did they use generative AI?’” co-director Brian Woods explained. “It doesn’t feel like that at all, but it was important for us to put that out there because we think it’s something people need to start talking about.”
This firm stance is shared by many creatives in the industry who feel an existential threat from the technology, even after major protections were granted during last year’s strikes. Beyond worrying about the future of his career, Woods believes the technology is unethical to use because of how it was developed.
“An algorithm [is] jumbling a bunch of s*** together and then spitting it out as art,” he said. “It’s not human and it’s borderline theft on some level.”
“I think this idea that an algorithm can just scrape all of human history and art off the internet, repackage it, regurgitate it, spit it out and somebody else can use that to create profit…I don’t know why that’s legal,” Woods continued. “It’s important for people to start talking about the need for human intersection in art, business and every facet of this life, because we’re on the precipice of every job on planet Earth being replaced overnight. It’s going to happen so fast. And it’s easy for it to happen in the arts. We’re in a business that is exceptionally greedy. Decisions are made for the bottom line and not for the good of the artistic process.”
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Wood’s fear of the technology, however, comes from a respect for its output, rather than a belief that human art is objectively superior.
“AI is an amazing technology,” he said. “Beautiful things will come of it, and it’s jaw-dropping. What is being created with generative AI and video…it’s amazing we could create that technology. Now let’s bury it underground with nuclear warheads, cause it might kill us all.”
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