James Cameron joins the board of an AI company – and faces backlash

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Hollywood's relationship with artificial intelligence is anything but blissful…

This was one of the main reasons the writers and actors continued Strike last yearbecause they were afraid of protecting their images and their craft from unregulated AI. Then there are those countless threats of lawsuits about fears that some AI companies have trained their models on content – all without permission – and about the question of copyright when a technology works by analyzing images created by humans.

With the strikes still ringing in the ears of creatives, comes an announcement that doesn't receive unanimous support.

James Cameron, the director behind it The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and the Avatarsaga has joined the board of AI company StabilityAI – a London-based maker of the artificial intelligence image generation tool Stable Diffusion, which competes with those of Microsoft-backed OpenAI, for example. His role will apparently focus on how special effects technology can be used in films.

In a statement, the company's CEO Prem Akkaraju said: “James Cameron is living in the future, waiting for the rest of us to catch up.”

“Stability AI’s mission is to transform visual media for the next century by providing developers with a comprehensive AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life,” Akkaraju added. “We have an unmatched advantage to achieve this goal with a technological and creative visionary like James at the highest level of our company. This is a monumental statement not only for stability AI, but for the AI ​​industry as a whole.”

Cameron said: “I have spent my career seeking new technologies that push the boundaries of what is possible, all in the service of telling incredible stories.”

“I was at the forefront of CGI over three decades ago and have stayed current ever since,” she shared. “Now the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave.” The convergence of these two completely different engines of creation will open up new opportunities for artists to tell stories in ways we could never have imagined. Stability AI is poised to lead this change.”

Fine words, but the 70-year-old is now facing backlash, with many highlighting the irony that the announcement comes 40 years after Cameron made a film warning about the risks of AI.

In fact, in 1984, The Terminator saw a rogue AI, Skynet, threaten humanity's existence. Still, Cameron seems confident that an artificial general superintelligence system will not become the enemy…

One social media user wrote: “I've been thinking about this for a long time before the news about James Cameron and AI came out, but it's so crazy that the first Terminator is such a deeply anti-tech and anti-AI sci-fi film , and then some.” The movie Jim made after that was like, “But aren't the robots so cool?”

Another fan said: “It's hardly surprising, but James Cameron's entry into generative AI is more disappointing, since he started working on Roger Corman films and doing matte paintings for John Carpenter.” AI doesn't open the door to creatives Doors, she locks them.”

Another added: “The recent 4K 'restorations' of his films have all used AI garbage, so James Cameron's is not at all surprising.” I find it incredibly depressing that one of the pioneers of modern Hollywood blockbuster cinema feels the need to cut corners and destroy his own art.”

Even more venomously, one wrote: “I'm thrilled that my disdain for James Cameron is confirmed.” It was blatantly obvious that this was the direction he was headed. I'm quite surprised at how many fans were fooled by him. He is not an artist or filmmaker. He’s a tech bro who does visual simulations.”

On the back useless Titanic 4K restoration and the terrible Avatar: The Way of Waterit's hard to disagree and not side with people like Hayao Miyazaki (My neighbor Totoro, Magically gone), who has called AI-generated videos “an insult to life itself,” and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, The shape of water), who recently shared his views on how AI can only create “half-convincing screensavers.”

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So are you more Team Way or Team Shape when it comes to water (and AI in filmmaking)?

Additional sources • Hollywood Reporter, AP