The problem with AI filmmaking
Generative AI is only art if it's furthering human expression. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of noise
Bollywood is at a unique crossroads this year, with producers more AI content to the viewers whether or not they asked for it.
Nobody, not even the film's directors or actors consent was taken before the 2013 movie Raanjhanaa's ending was edited with AI to make it "happier"; and now the head of an artist collective is pushing an AI generated movie in the theaters.
Why is it a problem? The problem is first, Generative AI is largely derivative. It is trained on hours of video content made by others and re-urgitates whatever it's trained on. Second, when AI is used to replace human artistic impression it's not only unethical but also artistically sloppy and lacks taste.
AI is going to be big in storytelling but what matters is not how it replaces humans, but how it enables artists to share stories that they'd otherwise not be able to share. It democratices filmmaking for artists, who take the time to edit, and work on their original concepts with it, rather than sloppily copy-pasting what a software generates from them. The former actually enhances artistic expression rather than curtailing it. I'm excited about that. Not the latter i.e. a bunch of prompt engineered slop being presented to people.
Take the Prateek Arora instagram account for example, It may not be the best art you see all day, but it's a start; his indofuturism concepts offer a new and fresh perspective that goes through a lot of work.
At the end of the day, Art is more about the process and thought than the final outcome; for that you need humans, not AI.