How ChatGPT Could Harm The Film Industry In recent weeks, ChatGPT has made Artificial Intelligence (AI) the centre of excited discussions in living rooms, offices, parties and of course, social media.
By Kabir Singh Bhandari •
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In recent weeks, ChatGPT has made Artificial Intelligence (AI) the centre of excited discussions in living rooms, offices, parties and of course, social media. Created by OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research company, which released the chat bot in November, users have been experimenting with the tool in creative ways. And the results are stunning.
While it started off innocently with people asking the bot generic questions, answers to complex math questions and even essays for university entrance exams, we seem to be getting more creative. Take for example someone who asked it how to smuggle drugs into Europe and it replied to him with a list of suggestions. Of course, there are some very interesting ways in which it has been used, like to create conversations between dead historical figures. But on a mass scale, what seems to be worrying the world is the fact that we could see ourselves in a Black Mirror like scenario where AI tools like these could replace humans in jobs.
And this includes jobs from the film industry.
In the recently concluded 18th edition of the E-Summit 2023 at IIT Bombay, this concern reared its head in a session that one was expecting to be simply about an actor talking about his experiences and varied roles that he has played in the Indian film industry. Dressed in a kurta pajama, 64-year-old actor Darshan Jariwala was addressing an audience in one of the speaker sessions of the Summit, and started by stating that he doesn't want this to be about a one way lecture and wanted those seated instead to ask him about anything under the sun. The man who played the titular role in Gandhi, My Father (2007) made it an informal session and continued to answer queries, when towards the end one youngster asked him about his thoughts on AI and ChatGPT and how it would affect the creative industry. Jariwala's reply made it clear, that the effects were already being felt.
"I am attending an international labour convention in Geneva and AI is one of the top priority concerns. We are affiliated to the Federation of International Actors (FIA). But here in our country, artistes who get a payment of INR 5000 daily aren't getting a paltry INR 300 for their conveyance and we are crying over that, so why should we be concerned about something like AI? The point, however, is that the future is already here. AI is a big storm and unless we run and take cover I wouldn't know what we are going to do," said Jariwala, who is also the vice president of Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA).
And then, he ended his answer jokingly with a comment, but one that may come true soon. "Probably in the next two years they'll send my 3D image to talk to you," eliciting laughter from the audience.
After all, Hollywood has already been using AI, with Val Kilmer's voice being revived in Top Gun: Maverick and Bruce Willis being simulated in a Russian phone advertisement. Black Mirror may be a recent web series talking about a dystopian future where AI has taken over, but with Chat GPT mimicking personalities, it reminds one of the T-1000, the villain cyborg which went against Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), and had the ability to morph into people after killing them.
The author can be reached at bkabir@entrepreneurindia.com and Instagram.com/kabirsinghbhandari
