There’s something deeply human about cinema. Whether it’s a tiny detail in a shot, the rhythm of a well-written line, or the soul an actor pours into a scene, part of the magic comes from knowing someone made it. Someone obsessed over that moment. Someone took a risk.
But now, AI is being invited into that creative space. Not just to help, but to shape, substitute, and in some cases, replace.
It’s efficient. It’s fast. It’s smart. But is it what we want?
Trailers Without a Crew
Fake trailers created by AI are popping up all over YouTube. Some are clearly labeled as fan-made, but others ride a blurry line, looking polished enough to pass as official. Studios benefit from the buzz, especially when these clips rack up millions of views and bring in ad money. All without hiring a single editor or writer.
Viewers are left confused, unsure of what’s real. And while the visuals might be slick, they lack the hand of a storyteller. They’re convincing, but empty.
Actors’ unions, especially SAG-AFTRA, have started pushing back, arguing that AI-generated promo content undermines the people who actually make films for a living.
When a Face Isn’t Yours Anymore
AI has made it possible to bring back actors long after they’ve passed. Peter Cushing’s digital resurrection in Rogue One was a technical feat, but it left many people unsettled. Who owns that performance? And should anyone be performing on screen decades after death?
Studios are scanning actors now, sometimes for stunts or VFX-heavy scenes, but often for future use. The implications are enormous. If your face and voice can be replicated forever, what’s stopping studios from building an entire cast from old scans and a library of dialogue?
SAG-AFTRA’s latest contracts reflect that worry. Consent, compensation, and limits on how digital replicas can be used are now front and center in negotiations.
Does AI Dull the Blade of Creativity?
There’s a growing crowd of screenwriters experimenting with AI tools to generate dialogue or map out scenes. It can be helpful for breaking a block or riffing ideas, but it also introduces a real question: if a program writes the scene, whose voice is it?
Storytelling is risky. Great scripts aren’t built from templates, they’re shaped by instincts, life experience, and emotion. AI can mimic structure, but it doesn’t know what grief feels like. It can’t stumble into brilliance the way a human can.
There’s also growing talk of fully synthetic actors—entire characters built by AI from scratch. No audition. No backstory. Just code. Which begs the question: can we call it performance if there’s no performer?
Law and Order: AI Edition
The legal side is still catching up. The U.S. Copyright Office has said that AI-generated works, without significant human involvement, don’t qualify for protection. That might slow some things down, but the tech itself isn’t stopping.
In Europe, the AI Act is being crafted to build some kind of structure around responsible use. But these frameworks aren’t built for the pace of digital innovation. Studios are already exploring loopholes while artists and unions scramble to protect what little ground they still control.
A Tool for Indies, or a Shortcut to Fewer Jobs?
AI could be a game-changer for small filmmakers. You no longer need a full crew to fake a crowd, fix color, or dub your film. One person with a laptop and enough creativity could build something impressive.
But while it might democratize access, it also threatens jobs. Post-production teams, sound designers, even composers could see their roles shrink or vanish altogether as more tasks get handed to algorithms.
It’s a familiar pattern. First AI is a tool, then it becomes the system.
Art Without People Isn’t Really Art
AI is powerful. But it can’t suffer through rewrites. It can’t improvise a line that hits harder than what was scripted. It doesn’t dream, doubt, or fight for an idea when everyone else in the room says no.
The stories we love are the ones that carry a piece of someone. A fingerprint, a feeling, a flaw. They connect because they’re messy. Because they’re human.
Cinema isn’t just the product—it’s the process. If we give that away, we lose the thing that makes movies worth watching in the first place.
