Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan believes the type of cinema he is known for — large-scale, big-budget productions filmed largely on location — will continue to survive despite the rapid spread of artificial intelligence, a technology he says many members of the public actively “disdain”.
The director of “Oppenheimer” and “The Dark Knight” was speaking in Paris while promoting his latest blockbuster, “The Odyssey”, an adaptation of the Ancient Greek epic attributed to Homer.
“The interesting thing with AI is I’ve never seen a technology that’s been so successfully adopted by Wall Street and by investors and by tech companies that the public has so thoroughly rejected,” Nolan told AFP.
“It’s just sort of an odd thing. Young people in particular, they coined this term ‘AI slop’,” he added. “There’s a sort of disdain for things AI.”
Artificial intelligence has become increasingly embedded in business software, online search tools and consumer services, while chatbots such as ChatGPT have attracted millions of users worldwide. Yet the technology continues to face strong resistance within creative industries, including film, music, publishing and visual art.
The term “AI slop” is commonly used to describe the growing flood of low-quality AI-generated text, images, audio and video circulating across social media platforms.
Nolan said he expected artificial intelligence to produce useful “imaging tools” for filmmakers, but dismissed claims that it could fully replace human creativity.
“I think the idea that it replaces human beings wholesale and human creativity, to me it’s a nonsense,” he said.
Concerns over AI’s impact on actors, writers and production crews were among the issues behind the major Hollywood strikes of 2023, which halted productions and cost studios billions of dollars.
“The Odyssey”, reportedly made on a budget of around $250 million, allowed Nolan to film across several Mediterranean locations. The cast includes Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway and Lupita Nyong’o.
The director has faced criticism from Elon Musk and other right-wing commentators over the casting of Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, a figure celebrated in Greek mythology for her extraordinary beauty.
Nolan’s adaptation is expected to combine extensive location shooting with the spectacular practical effects that have become a hallmark of his work.
Homer’s “The Odyssey” is regarded as one of the foundational works of Western literature. It follows Odysseus on his 10-year journey home after the Trojan War, a voyage marked by encounters with some of Greek mythology’s best-known figures, including the one-eyed Cyclops and the deadly Sirens.
For Nolan, that appetite for scale remains central to cinema’s appeal in the digital age.— AFP
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