James Cameron has been rigorously known for his campaign of opposing artificial intelligence or anything related to it. He warns the audiences to be aware before “Avatar: Fire and Ash” premieres in theatres globally that no artificial intelligence (AI) was utilised in the production of the sequel. The director claiming AI as ‘horrifying’ told ComicBook.com that he wasn’t speaking out against generative AI because he had a beef with people believing that anything other than real human actors was used to bring the “Avatar” characters to life through performance capture software.
He claimed, “I’m not negative about generative AI. I just wanted to point out we don’t use it on the ‘Avatar’ films. We honor and celebrate actors. We don’t replace actors. That’s going to find its level. I think Hollywood will be self-policing on that. We’ll find our way through that. But we can only find our way through it as artists if we exist. So it’s the existential threat from big AI that worries me more than all that stuff.”
Recently, Zoe Saldaña, who portrays Neytiri in the “Avatar” films, told Beyond Noise that performance capture “is the most empowering form of acting” because “it gives us the credit, the ability to own 100 percent of our performance on screen.”
“Performance capture means that ‘Avatar’ wouldn’t exist if Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, myself, and the entire cast didn’t get up and put those dots on our faces,” she said. “From the archery, the martial arts, the free diving, the scuba diving – so that you can hold your breath under water for longer than five minutes – to the language [James] conceived out of thin air, to physically training with former gymnasts, circus performers, and acrobats so you can learn how to walk like an extraterrestrial human species… That’s all us, and a group of incredible stunt actors that make our characters feel bionic. God bless them. With the technology that Jim creates, he gives the artist the power of complete ownership.”
Cameron’s films continue to rely on human actors. He told CBS’s Sunday Morning last month that it is “horrifying” because generative AI can now produce artificial performers for films. “You’ve got generative AI, where they can make up a character,” Cameron said. “They can make up an actor. They can make up a performance from scratch with a text prompt. It’s like, no. That’s horrifying to me.”
