OpenAI launching new video creation tool which could spell doom for many Hollywood jobs

Last Updated on February 21, 2024

The rise of AI has been equal parts impressive and terrifying, but the latest advancement seems to have its sights set on Hollywood. OpenAI announced the development of Sora today, a new generative AI tool that can create a realistic and imaginative video from text instructions.

Unlike previous AI video generators, Sora is reportedly capable of generating content close to a minute long, all while maintaining visual quality and adherence to the user’s prompt. While the videos revealed by OpenAI are certainly impressive, they’re a direct threat to existing creatives in Hollywood. According to a study done at the beginning of the year, a whopping three-quarters of those surveyed indicated that AI tools “supported the elimination, reduction or consolidation of jobs at their companies.” The report also estimated that nearly 204,000 positions will be adversely affected over the next three years.

Those in danger include concept artists, voice actors, and those involved in visual effects and postproduction. “This is a clear alarm to the unions and professionals who are in crew in any capacity,” concept artist Karla Ortiz told THR. “This shows that the tech is here to compete with us. This is only the first step.” Other concept artists have said that they’ve already seen less demand for their work, with some even choosing to leave the industry altogether.

While the videos Sora is able to generate are impressive, OpenAI admits that it still struggles with certain elements. “The current model has weaknesses,” reads the announcement. “It may struggle with accurately simulating the physics of a complex scene, and may not understand specific instances of cause and effect. For example, a person might take a bite out of a cookie, but afterward, the cookie may not have a bite mark. The model may also confuse spatial details of a prompt, for example, mixing up left and right, and may struggle with precise descriptions of events that take place over time, like following a specific camera trajectory.“

Sora hasn’t been released to the public yet, as it’s currently undergoing safety testing. “We’ll be taking several important safety steps ahead of making Sora available in OpenAI’s products,” OpenAI said. “We are working with red teamers — domain experts in areas like misinformation, hateful content, and bias — who will be adversarially testing the model.” However, the company hasn’t disclosed what materials are being used to train the system. They’ve run into trouble before, with authors such as George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Jonathan Franzen launching a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of using their novels to train their AI.