Christopher Nolan Argues That AI Could Be A Powerful Tool For Filmmakers

Over the last year, there has been plenty of debate about artificial intelligence and whether it should be used in creative arts. From the comments of those currently a part of the writer's strike to image generators that mimic the style of certain artists to the opening credits of the MCU's "Secret Invasion," the topic of AI has never been far from the latest batch of headlines.

However, while the general consensus from those in the industry seems to be that AI should be used rarely, if ever, director Christopher Nolan thinks the conversation should be a bit more nuanced around the technology. Since many of Nolan's films discuss trailblazing or futuristic technology for the worlds they're set in, it makes sense that the filmmaker might see things a little differently.

He explained his views to Wired in an extensive talk about AI and technology. "I feel that AI can still be a very powerful tool for us. I'm optimistic about that. I really am," the director said. "But we have to view it as a tool. The person who wields it still has to maintain responsibility for wielding that tool."

All the same, Christopher Nolan balanced this somewhat optimistic point of view with the trademark moral greyness that his films regularly wade into. "If we accord AI the status of a human being, the way at some point legally we did with corporations, then yes, we're going to have huge problems," he argued.

What might make Nolan's views here especially surprising is that he's generally considered to be a cinematic purist in a lot of ways. He addressed that point as well in the Wired interview. "I'm, you know, very much the old analog fusty filmmaker. I shoot on film. And I try to give the actors a complete reality around it," the director acknowledged. "My position on technology as far as it relates to my work is that I want to use technology for what it's best for."

Overall, it appears that some of Nolan's belief in AI is rooted in practicality, especially when it comes to helping actors on set.

Continuing on with his thoughts, Christopher Nolan gave an analogy of using the tools on hand to make a stunt safer for performers and using technology to fix it in editing and post-production. "Like if we do a stunt, a hazardous stunt," the filmmaker mused. "You could do it with much more visible wires, and then you just paint out the wires. Things like that."

Still, while the writer-director seems to understand the nuance of the conversation around AI and why it has so many others in the film and television industry on edge, Nolan still thinks that the technology can be useful for human creators, especially in bypassing the connective tissue between different mediums. "It's not starting from nothing. It's starting from a much more detailed and data-driven idea," Nolan explained. "It might finally break the barrier between animation and photography." While this is a good point, once again, what the filmmaker said next suggested where the tech can possibly go wrong.

"If you tell an artist to, say, draw a picture of an astronaut, they're inventing from memory or looking at references," Nolan said. "With AI, it's a different approach, where you're actually using the entire history of imagery." While this may not have been his point, this does bring the conversation back around to AI image generators and the many artists who point out that they simply steal from existing art, and thus the debate continues.