The Sunday Read: ‘What if A.I. Is Actually Good for Hollywood?’
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Hi, my name is Devin Gordon, and I'm a contributor to the New York Times Magazine. So maybe you remember, last year, there was a major strike by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild that completely stopped Hollywood for several months. And one of the issues at the core of the contract negotiations with the movie studios was the subject of A.I. guild members were concerned that AI could replace humans at every stage in the creative process, that studios would soon use AI to write screenplays, direct and edit films, design the special effects, and even read and decide which scripts were greenlit. Actors, meanwhile, were concerned about copyright ownership over their images.
They wanted to protect their likenesses from exploitation, reproduction, and profit without their benefit. But I also heard another perspective from AI optimists in Hollywood. They told me that the technology was still widely misunderstood. So I decided to find out what AI was actually being used for. Did the anxiety match the reality? At first, it was difficult to find people in the industry who would go on the record in praise of AI because that can be seen as siding with the machines or undermining union solidarity. But eventually, I was able to speak with artists who have already incorporated AI into their work in films you might have already seen. One use of AI is to make actors look younger or older than they actually are. For example, in a new movie called Here, AI transformed Tom Hanks' face to make him look anywhere from 18 to 80 years old. This method of facial replacement technology is also being used in stunt work.
You can take the face of, say, Dwayne Johnson and digitally paste it onto the face of a stunt person leaping off a cliff. Filmmakers have also used AI to bring back dead actors to reprise roles, as was done with Ian Holm for his android character in this summer's Alien Romulus. This is the kind of work that would typically take teams of hundreds of artists, drawing every pixel, frame by frame, several months to do, and it can cost tens of millions of dollars. For this week's Sunday read that you'll be hearing next, I wanted to get as many honest takes from people in Hollywood about where AI might ultimately lead. And I really wanted to know, and I think many of us as moviegoers do as well, but might be hesitant to ask, could AI actually make movies better? So here's my article, read by Eric Jason Martin. Our producer is Jack D'Isidoro, and our music was written and performed by Aaron Esposito.
The Los Angeles headquarters of Metaphysic, a Hollywood visual effects startup that uses artificial intelligence to create digital renderings of the human face, were much cooler in my imagination, if I'm being honest. I came here to get my mind blown by AI, and this dim three-room warren overlooking Sunset Boulevard felt more like the slouchy offices of a middling law firm. Ed Ulbrich, Metaphysics' chief content officer, steered me into a room that looked set to host a deposition, then sat me down in a leather desk chair with a camera pointed at it. I stared at myself on a large flat-screen TV, waiting to be sworn in. But then, Ulbricht clickety-clicked on his laptop for a moment, and my face on the screen was transmogrified. "'Smile,' he said to me.
"'Do you recognize that face?' I did, right away. But I can't disclose its owner, because the actor's project won't come out until 2025, and the role is still top secret." Suffice it to say that the face belonged to a major star with fantastic teeth. Smile again, Albrecht said. I complied. Those aren't your teeth. Indeed, the teeth belonged to famous actor. The synthesis was seamless and immediate, as if a digital mask had been pulled over my face that matched my expressions with almost no lag time. Ulbricht is the former chief executive of Digital Domain, James Cameron's visual effects company, and over the course of his three-decade career, he has led the VFX teams on several movies that are considered milestones in the field of computer-generated imagery, including Titanic, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Top Gun Maverick.
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