David Lubbat: Predicting the Future Influence of AI in Hollywood

Among Hollywood insiders, any recent discussion or speculation about the so-called “next big thing” typically revolves around the advances made in virtual reality technology, and perhaps rightly so. The technological advancements made in virtual reality have been undeniably impressive, so it is not at all surprising that VR continues to capture the imaginations of the film industry’s most forward-looking thinkers.

Over the next five years or so, it is entirely reasonable to suggest that innovations in virtual reality technology will be most responsible for altering the way filmmakers and audiences approach a new film. While virtual reality technology appears poised to significantly alter the film industry’s immediate future, there is increasing interest in how artificial intelligence might ultimately have the greatest impact on shaping the next few decades of filmmaking.

This should not be taken as a slight to virtual reality technology, as VR is beginning to live up to its billing as one of the most exciting new technological developments in recent memory. Instead, the fact that artificial intelligence might ultimately wield the greater influence over the film industry merely speaks to the seemingly limitless potential possessed by AI. The most obvious question, of course, is whether AI will fulfill its potential in the way so many industry experts currently project.

According to David Lubbat, a traveling food blogger and political opinion writer, there is indeed plenty of evidence suggesting artificial intelligence could live up to its immense potential, and perhaps much sooner than most observers currently expect. In discussing the future of AI in film, Lubbat first points out that filmmakers are already making relatively extensive use of artificial intelligence in just about every stage of the process that goes into bringing a movie to the theater.

Of course, there are still a number of hurdles to overcome before artificial intelligence is able to revolutionize the filmmaking industry, the most obvious of which is the infamous phenomenon commonly known as the “uncanny valley.” Whether it is in robotics or digital film renderings, the phenomenon occurs when the replica is close but ultimately falls just shy of being believably human and is thus distracting or even off-putting to the viewer.

While AI is closing in on overcoming the pitfalls associated with the “uncanny valley,” its inability to do so has not deterred filmmakers from relying on AI as a supplementary tool. Through the use of AI, decades-old footage of an actor, for example, might be combined with present-day footage to create a composite that enables the actor to play a much younger character than they might not being able to otherwise pull off without the supplementary assistance provided by AI.

Lubbat noted that although filmmakers ought to be intrigued about the possibilities brought about by AI’s ongoing advance, it is futurists who tend to be most excited about AI’s impact on just about everything, such as AI’s potential ability to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues. In fact, several futurists have already asserted that AI will ultimately address the most frightening existential threats facing the world today, including global climate change and incurable disease, among the countless other possibilities that few could have imagined as being realistic in the not-too-distant future.