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When Alex Garland’s feature directorial debut Ex Machina was released in 2014, artificial intelligence was a concept that largely existed in science fiction, at least as far as the general public was concerned. Now, it’s becoming a part of every day life and showing no signs of slowing down.
AI is a controversial topic in and of itself, but it seems to be particularly amplified when it comes to art, as it opens the moral and almost existential question of whether or not art is defined by the fact that it comes from something with a soul.
Regardless of how you ultimately feel about AI, in creative endeavors or otherwise, it’s here and it’s here to stay, which is the exact mindset that Garland is adopting as Hollywood enters this new era.
Speaking to BroBible ahead of the release of his new film Warfare, which he co-directed with Iraq veteran Ray Mendoza, Garland said that his concern isn’t necessarily derived from the tool of artificial intelligence, but the people controlling it.
via US Gov/@WhiteHouse
“It’s coming. What are you going to do?” Garland begins, stone-faced, assured.
“Prior to this, what you had was lots of different, singers, writers, playwrights, poets, filmmakers — you name it — I’m talking about the creative world, presenting different sorts of takes perspectives, and in some sense, they were competing with each other. And so perhaps a new voice has entered into that realm. What you think about it is not exactly irrelevant. It’s relevant, but it’s like the tide coming in. It’s just going to happen.”
“To me, the problem is not actually AI itself. It’s the motivations and the thought processes of the non-AI people who run the companies that are bringing it in — why they’re doing it, what they are careful of, what they are not careful of — their own sense of omniscience, which, in the case of people who run tech companies, seems to be limitless. They perceive themselves in a sort of Messianic or even quasi sort of divine way,” he continued.
“And it is them, more than the concept of AI itself that I find concerning. You have unelected people acting with more power than politicians who are not accountable at the moment to anybody. And there’s not just one, there’s several, and some of them are f—— bat s— crazy. So that is problematic.”
You can check out our full interview with Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza when it drops next Monday. Warfare hits theaters in the United States on Friday, April 11.
Content shared from brobible.com.