From the mind-boggling reality distortions of Doctor Strange within the Multiverse of Madness (2022) to the breathtaking alien vistas of Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), visual effects have taken us to worlds beyond our imagination. But the longer term of visual effects (VFX) may very well be at stake as artificial intelligence is integrated into screen production processes.
Lionsgate current partnership AI startup Runway has sparked controversy within the visual effects industry.
By giving Runway the power to coach AI on Lionsgate's extensive film and tv catalog, the collaboration guarantees greater efficiency and financial savings – but at what cost?
Growing concern amongst staff
According to a Research report In the study released in January, 75% of 300 entertainment industry executives surveyed said that generative AI tools, software and models had helped eliminate, reduce or consolidate jobs of their organization Business areas.
The report highlighted the visual effects sector as particularly in danger because AI techniques are sometimes utilized in post-production processes. This vulnerability was typified in our own research published today.
Our work shows that visual effects artists have serious concerns about integrating generative AI into screen production. These include concerns about job insecurity, creative devaluation and the potential for AI to provide derivative content that fails to fulfill audience expectations.
Challenges of AI within the VFX industry
Our findings reflect growing concern that using AI in filmmaking could exacerbate the industry's existing problems. This could, for instance, result in a rise in unfair working conditions. Or it could undermine creativity when artists are expected to “clean up” AI-generated work slightly than create their very own.
Visual effects artists, who’ve typically been early adopters of recent technologies, recognize that AI can bring each opportunities and challenges. While this might help streamline certain tasks, it could equally impact the general quality of their work.
The artists we spoke to were concerned that reliance on AI could hinder creativity and skill development by making work “more mechanical and fewer creative.” In a recent example, the AI-generated title sequence for Marvel's Secret Invasion series Was widely criticized because of lack of artistic quality.
There were also questions on how artists could be compensated if their work was used to coach AI models.
Some senior managers were particularly concerned in regards to the ethical and legal considerations of using AI in industrial projects. They were uncertain in regards to the mental property rights for AI-generated content in addition to the Potential for copyright infringement.
On a creative and technical level, artists recognized the worth of AI in generating ideas and automating repetitive tasks. However, just about all of them stated that AI tools will not be yet production-ready and pointed to difficulties in integrating these tools into existing pipelines.
The next steps
The VFX industry was already scuffling with profits and sustainability before the AI boom. Visual effects corporations are sometimes even on the verge of bankruptcy Oscar-winning copies. In many cases, artists are fired as soon as a project is accomplished.
IMDB
The partnership between Lionsgate and Runway represents the industry's collective failure to handle concerns about AI. But there continues to be time to make things better.
The first step is to develop clear industry guidelines for using AI in visual effects. Above all, AI should help increase human creativity slightly than replace it. And artists ought to be fairly compensated when their work is used to coach AI models.
Investing in training programs could also help artists adapt to recent AI tools without hindering their creativity. As one interviewee told us, human expertise and creativity are still necessary in visual effects.
“Understanding the why behind certain decisions, the creative decision making, that's something that I don't think AI can really do effectively yet,” they said.
As the industry finds itself at a technological crossroads, it must balance the pursuit of efficiency with true creativity. Otherwise, we risk losing the human touch that brings our favourite movies to life.
