This article is a cross-post from Film Robots, a newsletter about Film and AI by Kristina BudelisToday I’ll be sharing the best and worst uses of AI I’ve come across in the wide, wonderful world of documentaries. Obviously, since documentaries tell, you know, true stories, it can be a particularly fraught area to incorporate AI. This post is largely inspired by Zach Seward's SXSW talk. Zach currently spearheads AI initiatives at the New York Times. In his talk, he mentioned that he doesn’t have all the answers about how to use AI at the NYT, but that surveying the current state of AI-powered journalism—from the very bad to the really good—can provide valuable insights. And he’s right! So let’s apply the same approach to the doc world. I’ll start with the “worst” or most problematic uses of AI in docs I’ve seen: we can learn a lot from these. Then I’ll share some really cool, ethical, and effective examples of genAI in docs. Without further ado…The Worst/Most Problematic Use Cases of AI in Documentary Film Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony BourdainThe offense: AI-generated voice of a real person (Bourdain) used without disclosure to the audience or official consent from the family. The deets: In 2021, this documentary about the beloved celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain premiered with very positive reviews. But then, news broke that its director, Morgan Neville, had made an AI version of Bourdain’s voice. This “fake” voice was used in the documentary for 45...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Thursday, 23 May