George Lucas, the 82-year-old creator of Star Wars, has defended the use of artificial intelligence in film-making, comparing sceptics to people who clung to horse-drawn carriages when cars were introduced. In an interview with A Rabbit's Foot, Lucas said: 'Artificial intelligence means it's much easier for us to make movies.'
Lucas compares AI resistance to horse-and-buggy mindset
Lucas argued that resistance to AI is misguided. 'It's very much like sitting here saying: "Well, I believe the horse and the buggy is really where it's at. These cars, they break down, they need gas, there's all kinds of problems with them and pretty soon they'll be making them into tanks, and then they'll be killing people. It's terrible."' He added: 'There's nothing you can do about it. That's progress, it's the future.'
Other directors weigh in on AI in film-making
Lucas is not alone among Star Wars directors in embracing AI. Gareth Edwards, who directed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth, said generative AI 'is a fucking genius at helping you'. However, Christopher Nolan, director of The Odyssey, has been critical, stating: 'I've never seen a technology that's been so successfully adopted by Wall Street and by investors … that the public has so thoroughly rejected. Young people, in particular, they coined this term "AI slop" … There's a sort of disdain for things AI.'
Soderbergh expresses ambivalence about AI
Steven Soderbergh, whose documentary John Lennon: The Last Interview includes AI-generated sequences, expressed a mixed view: 'I don't think it's the solution to everything, and I don't think it's the death of everything. We are in the very early stages. Five years from now, we all may be going: "That was a fun phase."'
Lucas criticises focus groups and audience testing
Lucas also shared his thoughts on audience testing and focus groups in the film industry. 'I don't like focus groups,' he said. 'The audience doesn't know what they want to see. If they don't like a character, that's interesting, and as a film-maker I want to find out why. But when the studios hear that, they take the wrong message. They let the audience actually make the movie … Now, it's all about what the fans think. That isn't how you make the movie.'
