Filmmaker Tyler Perry has decided to indefinitely halt the plans he had for expanding his film studio because he fears that artificial intelligence software programs could more or less make a lot of jobs in the industry obsolete and put the power of movie-making in the hands of a person sitting at a computer desk.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Perry had been planning a massive $800 million expansion of his studio in Georgia, which would include the addition of 12 new soundstages. That is an almost unfathomable amount of money. Who knew the dude had this kind of money at his disposal? Wow. Color me impressed.
You're probably wondering what spooked him about AI. Perry was given an introduction to OpenAI's new text-to-video model, Sora, which came out on February 15. The software's capabilities blew the actor away, and I don't mean that in a good way. He was shocked and quite alarmed about the implications the program has on the future of the film and entertainment industry.
“Being told that it can do all of these things is one thing, but actually seeing the capabilities, it was mind-blowing,” the actor and filmmaker told THR.
While it obviously sucks to see jobs and careers destroyed, isn't that sort of the price of progress? When new technology comes out that makes things simpler, easier, and more affordable, that's usually a good thing. And I'm pretty sure that you still need individuals who are trained and skilled to operate the software properly, and it will take a long, long time before that isn't the case. Could Tyler Perry be overestimating the impact Sora will have on the film industry?
I think the Hollywood studio system has been a serious barrier for good storytellers for a long, long time. How long have we as conservatives complained about the woke sludge coming out of the entertainment industry? If only people would create the kind of content that focuses on the story and leaves the messaging in the subtext. Where are all the conservative filmmakers?
In case you didn't already know, making movies costs money. A lot of money. Film is also a collaborative medium. It takes a team of highly talented individuals to take words on the page of a script and magically transform them into moving images that capture our imaginations, pull on the strings of our hearts, and help us delve deep into what it means to be human. A person without a massive budget is hamstrung and incapable of bringing their vision to life.
Sora and similar programs solve that dilemma and open doors for creatives to take the power out of the hands of major studios and put it back into their own. I personally think there is a lot of good that can come out of this development.
Of course, there are definitely a lot of bad things about it too, and we'll get to those in a minute.
"There’s got to be some sort of regulations in order to protect us. If not, I just don’t see how we survive,” Perry went on to warn. He then provided a description of the kind of capabilities the Sora program has.
“I no longer would have to travel to locations,” he added. “If I wanted to be in the snow in Colorado, it’s text. If I wanted to write a scene on the moon, it’s text, and this AI can generate it like nothing. If I wanted to have two people in the living room in the mountains, I don’t have to build a set in the mountains, I don’t have to put a set on my lot. I can sit in an office and do this with a computer, which is shocking to me.”
“I think it’s going to be a major game-changer, because if you could spend a fraction of the cost to do a pilot that would’ve cost $15 [million], $20 million or even $35 million if you’re looking at HBO, of course the bottom line of those companies would be to go the route of lesser costs,” Perry stated. “So I am very, very concerned that in the near future, a lot of jobs are going to be lost. I really, really feel that very strongly.”
And who does Perry want to try and prevent the loss of these jobs? The government.
“If you look at it across the world, how it’s changing so quickly, I’m hoping that there’s a whole government approach to help everyone be able to sustain, is my hope,” Perry commented.
The one area that should have some sort of regulation is the use of a celebrity's likeness. A person should not be recreating actual, established actors with artificial intelligence without permission and proper compensation. This should be a given.
Another downfall of the technology is its application for screenwriting. A script written by AI is never going to be able to capture the psychological depth of the human condition. Only a live, in-the-flesh human being can accomplish that. Thus, we shouldn't be using these tools to craft entire films. Put in some work to be creative and use programs like Sora to supplement areas where you have no resources.
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