Venice Film Festival head stresses AI potential

The Venice Film Festival's artistic director has stressed the creative potential of artificial intelligence ahead of the premiere of a documentary made entirely using the technology at the prestigious Italian event.
In an AFP interview on the eve of the festival, Alberto Barbera acknowledged the dangers surrounding the emerging technology, but argued that the debate should also consider its creative possibilities. AI has caused both panic and excitement across a wide range of industries, with the film sector among those most concerned about its rapid development.
'There's both danger and advantage. The fact is that up to now we've seen a great many interventions on artificial intelligence driven by fear, by concern over the negative impact AI might have on the whole of humankind, on professional aspects, on copyright, on artists' image and so on and so forth', Barbera said.
He said that, alongside understanding how to control such a powerful technology, people also needed to consider how they could 'begin to harness the extraordinary potential of this unprecedented technology'.
AI could enable artists and directors 'to achieve things that until now were not possible', he added.
This year's festival on the Venice Lido has programmed 'Be Brave', a documentary made entirely with AI by Italian director Francesco Carrozzini. The film centres on Renzo Rosso, the founder of jeans brand Diesel and Barbera described the production as 'a very interesting experience'.
In the film's notes, Carrozzini said using AI to tell the story of the fashion 'provocateur' made sense, describing the project as an experimental and provocative encounter with what he called the ultimate frontier of the present era: artificial intelligence.
The festival, which begins on Wednesday, will also host an international symposium examining what the technology could mean for the movie industry. Hollywood star George Clooney is among those due to take part in the panel.
Many movie industry workers remain opposed to AI, fearing that it could eventually eliminate jobs for animators, scriptwriters and actors.
Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux spoke out against AI at this year's event in May, saying the festival stood with industry professionals whose livelihoods were at risk.
However, Cannes also screened a documentary by Oscar-winning 'Traffic' director Steven Soderbergh about John Lennon and Yoko Ono that featured some visually jarring AI-generated graphics.
'Lord of the Rings' director and special-effects specialist Peter Jackson also offered a contrasting view. He told festival-goers that he believed AI was 'going to destroy the world', but added that, when it came to its use in film, 'I don't dislike it at all'. — AFP