Danny Boyle dodged a question about the long-term impact of AI in a Q&A for his new film INK, which uses the technology.
The Slumdog Millionaire director’s new movie, about the rise of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in the UK, admitted previously that “about 30 seconds” of screen time in the film was created using AI, in a shot where a newspaper image was animated. He was asked about that usage at the Toronto Q&A for the movie, held on Tuesday afternoon (September 15).
“We used a tiny amount of it,” he said (via Variety). “It’s very much linked with VFX in our world; it’s one of the tools they use in the VFX. We try to be very responsible and make sure no actors were out of work because of it, so we would always employ actors if we were going to use a bit of it. There was about 30 seconds of it.”
He proved evasive when asked about the broader concerns about AI replacing human creativity in the industry. “The wider question of it and its place in our society of course, including our profession, is a huge and complicated one which I don’t think we can probably go into here,” he stated, “but we will need to go into it, all of us.”
Ink will have its UK premiere at the London Film Festival in October, before opening in British cinemas on January 8 next year.
AI has been a divisive topic in Hollywood, with Backrooms director Kane Parsons, Guillermo Del Toro, and Pope Leo XIV condemning the use of the technology. Conversely, Martin Scorsese, Neill Blomkamp, Brad Pitt, and Jodie Foster have all endorsed or used AI in their forthcoming projects, receiving criticism from some quarters for their support.
Recently, Star Wars creator George Lucas spoke about AI, claiming there’s “nothing you can do about” its rise. In response, SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin asked Lucas and others to “speak carefully” about AI in future.
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