The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the biggest talking points in Hollywood nowadays. While some directors loathe the technology, such as Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, and Guillermo del Toro, there are those who are embracing it, or at the very least, partial to utilizing its capabilities. Such directors who have expressed interest in using elements of AI include Martin Scorsese, who has cited using text-to-image AI tools for storyboarding, and James Cameron, who is on the board of directors for Stability AI.
Another filmmaker who sees value in AI is Andy Serkis, who has recently confirmed in an interview with Variety that the technology is partially utilized in the making of his upcoming fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. His stance on AI is steadfast, believing that “if we teach AI well, then it can help us across many industries,” he says, adding that it could never replace the “authored performance” actors put into their performances.
"I think AI as a creative tool is, as long as it’s not exploitative and as long as it’s not harming anybody or defaming anybody or telling mistruths, is valuable," he explained. "If you’re looking for reference material, say, in the old days you get reference images for something. Well, now you can prompt something and get a result. And I don’t have any problem with that."
The issue, Serkis belives, lies in the use cases of it. "When it becomes exploitative and people are not remunerated for the work that they’ve done, or it’s used in nefarious, or mean-spirited or pornographic ways, then of course, that’s terrible and we’ve only brought it upon ourselves," he added. "I’ve said this before and I mean it — we are the parents of AI, and we have to be good parents and teach AI well. And if we teach AI well, then it can help us across many industries."
However, before AI-haters pass harsh judgement on Serkis, he was quick to clarify the specific use cases for it in his upcoming film. "Not at present, other than some of the de-aging. There’s a little bit of de-aging for some of the characters and machine learning is part of the process," he said of using AI in The Hunt for Gollum.
Of course, the franchise is moving forward with the times. Serkis looks back at the making of The Lord of the Rings, where Peter Jackson embraced machine learning in the production process. "When you think about it, in the original Lord of the Rings films, Peter created MASSIVE, which was a program which allowed 1000s of orcs to all have their own individual mindset. So that is a brilliant example of an incredible use of AI."
In The Hunt for Gollum, AI is not used as a starting point or to replace human work. "We’re not creating AI shots in our movie, every shot is created in a traditional way. One of the things actually that I really wanted to do with this film was to bring back all of the great filmmaking skills, from miniatures to prosthetics and marry them up, because that’s my taste. I like it when you mix up different filmmaking techniques."
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum releases in theaters on December 17, 2027.
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