Actor Ashton Kutcher is facing criticism from entertainment industry workers after touting the potential of AI to radically change and seemingly replace human roles in filmmaking.
In a recent conversation with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Kutcher specifically praised OpenAI’s generative video tool Sora, which he has used in beta form.
“You can generate any footage that you want… footage that I would say you could easily use in a major motion picture or a television show,” Kutcher stated.
He went on to suggest AI could make movies without needing location scouts, set designers, stunt performers or visual effects artists. Kutcher claimed he used Sora to create a scene of “an ultramarathoner running across the desert being chased by a sandstorm” in just five minutes.
The That ’70s Show star even envisioned a future where “you’ll just come up with an idea for a movie, then it will write the script, then you’ll input the script into the video generator and it will generate the movie.”
However, Kutcher’s AI filmmaking comments were met with swift backlash from writers, actors and crew members worried about job security and undermining the human artistic process.
Former Rick and Morty writer Caitie Delaney accused Kutcher of “cannibalizing your own industry” and disregarding “below-the-line” workers, saying removing humans from creative pursuits means “you literally lose the humanity.”
Other critics called Kutcher’s stance “ignorant,” “shortsighted” and driven by a “greed” that prioritizes cost-saving over protecting human jobs. Some even questioned if anyone would want to work with the actor on future film sets after his controversial AI advocacy.
The backlash highlights the growing concerns and divisions around AI’s increasing capabilities across the entertainment industry.