Before the release of Avatar: Fire and Ashes, James Cameron emphasized that no generative AI was used during the making of the film, because it is crucial for him that the characters are brought to life by the performance of real actors.
He stated, “I’m not negative about generative artificial intelligence… We respect and celebrate the actors, not replace them.” According to Cameron, the real threat is not the use of AI within Hollywood, but the existential threat of “big AI”: “It’s going to develop in its own way. I think Hollywood is going to be self-regulating on this. We’re going to find our way through it. But we can only make it through as artists if we exist at all. So to me, the real concern is the threat to our existence from big AI, not these things.”
Zoe Saldaña called performance capture technology “the most empowering form of acting,” stressing, “Performance capture means Avatar wouldn’t exist if Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington… and the entire cast hadn’t put those dots on his face.”
According to the actress, physical preparation, language learning and stunt work are all the merit of the actors: “Then, from archery, through martial arts, to free diving, to diving – to be able to hold your breath underwater for more than five minutes – to the language that [James] created from scratch, right down to physical training with ex-gymnasts, circus performers and acrobats to learn how to walk like an alien human species… It’s all about us and an incredible group of stunt people who make our characters bionic. God bless them. With the technology that Jim creates, the artist has full ownership of their work.”
Cameron believes the Academy is underappreciating Saldaña’s performance just because she’s playing a “CG character,” even though she’s an incredibly powerful actress: “She can go from dignified to completely beastly in two nanoseconds. This woman is terrifying.” he praised.
The director still finds it scary that generative AI can create fictional actors and roles. However, he doesn’t claim to be completely anti-AI, having joined the board of directors of Stability AI to responsibly help reduce visual effects costs and speed up processes. According to him, the place of AI is in post-production, not in filming or story-making.
According to Cameron, AI can’t write a story with emotional depth that really touches the audience, so it won’t take the place of writers: “Personally, I just don’t think a disembodied mind that just repeats what other disembodied minds have said – about their lives, love, lies, fear, mortality – and mixes it all up and says it back… I don’t think it’s ever going to be able to touch the audience. You have to be human for that. I don’t know anyone who would even think about having AI write a script.”
For more recent news and recommendations, just scroll down!
action | drama | fantasy | adventure | science fiction | thriller
After the war and the loss of their son, Jake Sully and Neytiri are forced to face the fact that Pandora is threatened by a new threat: the people of Ash appear, led by the ruthless… more»
Source: Variety