Reply AI recently hosted its AI Film Festival sponsored by Mastercard, and the finalists were chosen at the prestigious 81st Venice Film Festival on September 3. All of the films were created using various AI technologies and focus on the theme “synthetic voices, human hearts.” To find the finalists, an international panel of judges reviewed over 1,000 short films submitted from 59 countries.
The winner was For my dear, An animated short film by Gisele Tong, described as a “moving exploration of self-discovery and healing.” You can watch the short below, but be aware that it contains scenes of domestic violence. Call this number if you have experienced domestic violence: 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) in the US, 0808 2000 247 (UK) or 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) (Australia).
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Second place went to One way By Yegor Kharlamov and the third place was Jinx by Mansha Totla, which is a documentary about World War II created entirely with AI. The criteria for the awards were that the film had to be generated or enhanced by AI, and entrants used a wide range of different AI tools to create their films. You can see the finalists and runners-up on the Reply AI website.
There is no longer any doubt that Artificial Intelligence will radically change filmmaking in the future, so we asked Filippo Rizzante, CTO of Reply AI, if he sees AI as a threat to traditional filmmaking.
“AI is a tool, not an entity,” says Filippo. “It’s like when humanity invented the camera.” [as a rival medium to] “Painting and people at that time were convinced, if you remember, that the camera stole people’s souls. It reminds me of exactly the same thing.”
But aren’t you worried that AI will take away jobs in the film industry? “No, no. It’s really going to affect organisations, not people,” says Filippo. “What’s changing is not just the creative output that’s possible – so maybe a new kind of creativity will emerge – but also the quantity. So, in the 17th century we copied books manually. Now we can’t count the number of books we can produce, and the same will probably happen with videos. That will allow for much more in terms of quantity, but also quality in the future. This means that we will probably need even more people to produce videos, because there is a bit of democratisation, but it will affect organisations.”
Maybe Game of Thrones didn't have to end like this
Filippo sees AI as a complement to film production, rather than replacing it: “We will mix real reality with AI, sometimes just for visual efforts, sometimes, like in the short films you find in our competition, maybe to create things about your grandmother’s story, your grandmother’s past, that today would not be possible to create without huge investments.”
But AI isn’t just about mimicking the way we make movies today – it’s also about thinking about moviemaking in new and different ways. “With AI you can also generate a movie on the fly, which means maybe Game of Thrones doesn’t end the way it did,” says Filippo. Making movies on the fly opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Imagine an AI that can scan your face to judge what reaction you’re having to a movie, so it changes the plot accordingly. Or maybe if you don’t like the ending of a series, it can change it in some other way.
Instead of seeing AI as a threat to film and television, it could be the thing that shakes up an industry that is long overdue for a revamp. No one likes having to wait at least a year between seasons of their favorite show. Having an AI generate the next season when it’s ready could be a godsend. And I’m pretty sure my reaction to the Game of Thrones finale would have been pretty easy to read even for a non-human!
