Technology and humans have always had a complicated symbiotic relationship in the world of science fiction. From future dystopia stories like 1927’s Metropolis to Phillip K. Dick novels to The Terminator to The Matrix, the ideas behind reliance on smart machinery and sentience of the manufactured produce a seemingly endless well of stories. This year’s boom in AI popularity is almost too perfect of timing for Gareth Edwards and his new AI-centric film, The Creator.
While sci-fi fiction of the past serves as a warning for unchecked facets of the technology, studios have pushed for the implementation of AI in showbiz. This started a great debate in the war of art and kick-started the strikes from writers and actors. ComingSoon.net reports on Gareth Edwards’ view of the timelessness of The Creator‘s plot amid the current controversy. Just days before the writers’ strike ended, Edwards told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s surreal. When we presented the first drafts of the screenplay to the studio, one of the main notes we got back was, ‘But why would you ban AI? It’s going to be this amazing tool. Why would anyone want to ban it?’ We got that kind of comment from everybody. Now cut to 2023 and the default setting of everyone who comes into the cinema is this feeling of: This is not good for society.”
The Creator aims to explore the grey area of the concept. Whereas Terminator and Matrix showcase a hostile enemy of humans, Edwards’ new film doesn’t entirely vilify the subject. This is something Edwards wanted to explore since, although it can be a frightening tool, the Rogue One director is still open-minded about its benefits in the art world. “Just like the invention of the electric guitar made it so suddenly everyone in their bedrooms and garages could form bands, and we had the birth of rock and roll and one of the greatest periods of music, there’s a possibility that if this amazing tool turns up and everyone can make any film that they imagine, it’s going to lead to a new wave of cinema. Look, there’s two options. Either it will be mediocre rubbish — and if that’s true, don’t worry about it, it’s not a threat. Or it’s going to be phenomenal, and who wouldn’t want to see that?”