Where do we draw the line in the sand? The growing technological age of artificial intelligence (A.I.) seems to be expanding and becoming an art form. The language of coding has been translated from sea to shining sea, and we are starting to see the age of computer programming become modern human expression. What can’t a computer do these days? While they continue to become more user-friendly and conveniently sized, the internal processing units are far more advanced than we could possibly imagine. It is a necessary factor in our everyday lives, but where does it stop?
The Renaissance period following the medieval age saw a rebirth of human expression into glorious forms of art. From the Mona Lisa to the statue of David, the leaps of human achievement from the imagination to the canvas was unlike it ever was before. If one is lucky to see these works of art in person, they’ll be exposed to a story from a time before one’s own consciousness. Their history is in the paint, and it is preserved with the integrity of human imagination.
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High art continued to evolve by the human hand. Soon, paintings became photographs and photographs became motion pictures. Finally, the canvas could tell a story from beginning to end and show artists’ truest intent. The motion picture industry is one of the most beautiful forms of human expression because of the amount of hands involved in painting the picture. From the screenwriter, director, and cinematographer, there are many perspectives from various cultures and backgrounds who can come together to tell a story. It is the pinnacle of human emotion and expression. Can art exist without that? Can A.I. make a movie?
The Motion Picture Industry
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
There have been a variety of Renaissance ages in cinema. However, the most notable came in Hollywood’s Golden Age. At a time when world wars and terrible poverty ravaged society, motion pictures brought the viewer into a world of imagination and marvelous escapism. The intent was to escape and show new worlds, either on our soil or in the furthest realms. The Wizard of Oz is a famous example of this. A country at the start of World War II could forget about their worries and watch these iconic characters singing and dancing while being photographed on technicolor film.
Generations of filmmakers have come and gone, but each era of film has seen a slew of directors try to progress the narrative of humanity’s existence. What could be out there that we have not discovered? What other stories are there to tell? Either way, the stories have always been made by us… for us. Some shred of human emotion was a catalyst for the entire project, and ultimately is the connection these stories have with their audiences. However, we seem to be losing this connection with the growing age of artificial intelligence.
Cinema has followed a formula that has seemed to work since its inception. The producers come together and plot out the movie from the bare bones. A screenwriter pens the story and establishes the beats and flows from the brains of the producers. A director is hired to fully realize this in a way that is true to the visions of all involved. But there is a singular narrative that establishes what the movie is about. Why are we making this movie? What story is there to tell? Well, the story comes from experience and what we know… or want to know.
The Art of Story
Walt Disney Pictures
Cave dwellers would draw on the walls from their own experiences living in the most natural world. The Greeks studied the world around them, and created myths based on the wonderment of the natural world. Today, our stories are mostly about looking up and coming into a new age. This is because we have now ventured into new worlds… literally. We now strive for something more. Just like Hercules in Disney’s classic animated film, we are trying to go the distance and fine where we belong in the grand scheme of the universe.
Storytelling is an art form and if there is not that threadline of existence based on experience, the story might not connect with the viewers. We also see studio interference be a detriment to a film’s success. Films like Fan4stic, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Alien 3 were all plagued by too many studio executives overshadowing the creative process. They are bound to formulas, test markets and statistics all based on codes and computer programs. So what if, with the help of A.I. and computer programs, an entire movie was created. Would that still be art?
Written, Directed, and Produced By A.I.
Wanrer Bros
It would have seemed strange back in Hollywood’s Golden Age to think that we’d be having this conversation generations later. It almost seems like a plot of a dystopian science fiction B-Movie. Taking the creative process out of the hands of the individual and putting it into the letters of a code just seems so far-fetched. But these days, an entire film can be manifested digitally and artificially.
The argument is that if a human is creating the codes and implementing the ideas into the computer to reference, wouldn’t that still be a human made art form? Perhaps it is like the “what came first, the chicken or the egg” theory. However, the beauty of art lies in its purest form made by hand. Which establishes the connection with the viewer and a conversation ensues. But a work of A.I. could be beautiful enough (film or still image) to engage in a conversation with the audience member. But as we have seen in films like The Polar Express and Beowulf, something is slightly off about fully computerized imagery.
The uncanny valley is a natural phenomenon that beholds the eyes of the viewer. Something does not seem right about what is on the screen. It is human… but not. This also occurs with screenplays that are written by robots and artificial intelligence. They are scattered and jumbled with cliché ideas and rehashed material. This has become a trend on social media. However, with the help of visualized A.I. images and paintings all made by computers, we might see the age of art start over again and reboot… with robots taking the helm.
In the age of deep fakes, voice modification and impressionists and de-aging technology, we could make a movie starring anyone at any time in their lives. The humanity and soul will be emptied from the image, and we’re left with rehashed visuals based on code. Where is the expression in that? Code itself is an art form and is an advanced skill one needs years to master. Alone, it is art. But it is being used in a way that is taking the soul out of art and that is where the issue lies.
A.I. and the Soul
Pixar
The Disney-Pixar film Soul perfectly encapsulates how important it is to maintain the human spirit in art. In the film’s case, music is the primary focus. But the argument would be the same if the music were to be played by a robot instead of a musician. Seeing the artist work and create a masterpiece out of nothing is nothing short of magical. The impact that has on a viewer, and the ability to inspire is why human art… is art. Can artificial intelligence inspire? Can we inspire it?
A full A.I. created movie has yet to be achieved, though A.I. has created full scripts. But to call it art is too broad and subjective. Art is the purest form of human connection, and to think that one day it could be replaced and void of human intent takes the magic out of the experience. It is too early to say whether A.I. will completely replace the human creator. But we have the opportunity now to take motion pictures in new, inventive directions with our own hands. With James Cameron’s new Avatar: The Way of Water creating new visuals, it still shows that we are capable of reinventing the medium.
