Starting on May 2, members of the Writers Guild of America wanted confirmation that AI wouldn’t replace screenwriters. During the ongoing SAG strike, Gareth Edwards was making The Creator centered on AI. As you can guess, the timeliness of his sci-fi thriller’s AI plot did not escape him.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future, an ex-special forces agent is tasked with hunting down the Creator, who made an AI child to destroy humanity. Director Gareth Edwards spoke to The Los Angeles Times two days before the strike’s resolution about his project’s timing.
“It’s surreal. When we presented the first drafts of the screenplay to the studio, one of the main notes we got back was, ‘But why would you ban AI? It’s going to be this amazing tool. Why would anyone want to ban it?’ We got that kind of comment from everybody. Now cut to 2023 and the default setting of everyone who comes into the cinema is this feeling of: This is not good for society.”
AI being able to instantly generate story ideas and write screenplays can be a scary concept. The Godzilla director spoke more about being open to AI’s place in film.
“Just like the invention of the electric guitar made it so suddenly everyone in their bedrooms and garages could form bands, and we had the birth of rock and roll and one of the greatest periods of music, there’s a possibility that if this amazing tool turns up and everyone can make any film that they imagine, it’s going to lead to a new wave of cinema. Look, there’s two options. Either it will be mediocre rubbish — and if that’s true, don’t worry about it, it’s not a threat. Or it’s going to be phenomenal, and who wouldn’t want to see that?”
What Perspective Does The Creator Take in Terms of AI?
The movie starts with a nuclear strike created by AI that killed nearly a million Los Angeles residents. However, artificial intelligence may not be seen as the sole enemy as Gareth Edwards describes.
“The obvious starting point of this film was that AI was the bad guy. But whether it’s science fiction or a contemporary war movie, everyone always wants to see things from their own perspective. And the second you look at things from AI’s perspective, it flips very easily. From AI’s point of view, we are attempting to enslave it and use it as our servant and definitely not treating it as an equal with any rights at all. So we’re clearly the baddie in that situation. It was impossible to see it from that perspective and not go down that path. Obviously, if I was writing the film today, it’d be quite a different situation.”
In the writers’ strike resolution, it was decided that AI cannot be used to write or rewrite scripts as well as be considered source material. Writers can use AI programs for their films, but only by choice and not through studio force. Edwards went on to say how he’s not afraid of AI coming into play, as this could be another example of public fear towards technological advancement. However, he explained no one initially was certain if tools like electricity, the internet, or computers would be good for the world. But as technology continues to advance, artificial intelligence could be the next experiment to endeavor.
The first reactions of The Creator called it one of the year’s best movies. One day away from its release date, critics have been happy with what they’ve seen. With AI not threatening screenwriters’ jobs, audiences can cherish Gareth Edwards’ optimism about AI’s portrayal in the movie.
