James Cameron joins board of AI company – and faces backlash

Hollywood's relationship with artificial intelligence is far from a blissful one...  

It was one of the major reasons behind the writers and actors going on strike last year, as they were fearful for the protection of their images and craft from unregulated AI. Then there are the countless lawsuit threats over fears that some AI companies have trained their models on content – all without permission – and the question of copyright when a technology works by analysing human-made pictures. 

With the strikes still ringing in creatives’ ears comes an announcement that has not gotten unanimous approval.  

James Cameron, the director behind The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and the Avatar saga, has joined the board of directors of AI firm StabilityAI – a London-based maker of artificial intelligence image-generation tool Stable Diffusion that rivals those made by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, for example. His role will apparently centre around how the technology can be used in special effects in films. 

In a statement, the company’s CEO Prem Akkaraju said: “James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up.” 

“Stability AI’s mission is to transform visual media for the next century by giving creators a full stack AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life,” added Akkaraju. “We have an unmatched advantage to achieve this goal with a technological and creative visionary like James at the highest levels of our company. This is not only a monumental statement for Stability AI, but the AI industry overall.”

Cameron said: “I’ve spent my career seeking out emerging technologies that push the very boundaries of what’s possible, all in the service of telling incredible stories." 

“I was at the forefront of CGI over three decades ago, and I’ve stayed on the cutting edge since," she shared. "Now, the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave. The convergence of these two totally different engines of creation will unlock new ways for artists to tell stories in ways we could have never imagined. Stability AI is poised to lead this transformation.” 

Pretty words, but the 70-year-old is now facing backlash, with many highlighting the irony that the announcement comes 40 years after Cameron made a film warning about the risks of AI.  

Indeed, in 1984, The Terminator saw a rogue AI, Skynet, threaten the very existence of mankind. Still, Cameron seems hopeful that an artificial general superintelligence system won’t turn antagonistic... 

One social media user wrote: “I’ve thought about this a lot even before the news about James Cameron and AI hit but it’s so crazy how the first Terminator is such a deeply technophobic and anti-AI sci-fi movie, and then every movie Jim made after that was like ‘but aren’t the robots so cool tho?’” 

Another fan said: “It’s hardly surprising but James Cameron going in on generative AI is more disappointing being that he got his start working on Roger Corman movies and doing matte paintings for John Carpenter. AI doesn’t open doors for creatives it closes them.”

Another added: “The recent 4K ‘restorations’ of his films all used AI garbage, so this isn’t surprising from James Cameron at all. I find it incredibly depressing that one of the pioneers of modern Hollywood blockbuster cinema feels the need to cut corners and destroy his own art.” 

More venomously, one wrote: “Thrilled to be vindicated by my disdain for James Cameron. It’s been abundantly obvious this has been the direction he’s heading in. Quite surprised how many fans have been duped by him. He’s not an artist or a filmmaker. He’s a tech bro who makes visual simulations.” 

On the back of the useless Titanic 4K restoration and the dire Avatar: The Way of Water, it’s hard to disagree and not side with the likes of Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away), who has described AI-generated videos as “an insult to life itself” and Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water), who recently shared his views on how AI can only generate “semi-compelling screensavers.” 

So, are you more Team Way or Team Shape when it comes to water (and AI in the creation of movies)?