Christopher Nolan Warns About How “Terrifying” the Use of AI Can Be in Certain Fields

A few days before the premiere of Oppenheimer in theaters, Christopher Nolan relates what he tells in his film with the current debate about the advances made in technology with the use of AIs, something that has become an important topic around in the world, particularly within the film and television industry.

In the midst of strikes by writers and actors, which have paralyzed almost all the major Hollywood productions such as Deadpool 3, the final season of Stranger Things, or even the promotion of films such as Oppenheimer and Barbie, the use of Artificial Intelligence has taken the center of attention especially after part of the proposal made by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to the actors included the use of these technologies.

Actors union’s chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland shared details of the proposal during his speech at the start of the strike (via The Verge):

“This ‘groundbreaking’ AI proposal that they gave us yesterday, they proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get one day’s pay, and their companies should own that scan, their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity on any project they want, with no consent and no compensation. So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”

But beyond the way that AIs can be used in the world of entertainment, be it in terms of special effects or even in writing, there are much greater dangers behind the development of these technologies.

Related: Oppenheimer’s First Reactions Anticipate Another Masterpiece from Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan Shares His Concern on the Use of AI in Specific Fields

Despite the fact that a few weeks ago the director spoke in favor of the arrival of Artificial Intelligence in the film industry as a tool that facilitates and improves VFX, but without neglecting the importance of human work behind it, Nolan also recognizes the dangers behind the advances of these technologies in more specific and complex fields.

In an interview with Variety, the director shared his opinion on the matter and the relationship between the AI ​​debate and Oppenheimer:

“The rise of companies in the last 15 years bandying words like algorithm — not knowing what they mean in any kind of meaningful, mathematical sense — these guys don’t know what an algorithm is,” Nolan shared at the screening. “People in my business talking about it, they just don’t want to take responsibility for whatever that algorithm does. Applied to AI, that’s a terrifying possibility. Terrifying. Not least because, AI systems will go into defensive infrastructure ultimately. They’ll be in charge of nuclear weapons. To say that that is a separate entity from the person wielding, programming, putting that AI to use, then we’re doomed. It has to be about accountability. We have to hold people accountable for what they do with the tools that they have.”

Oppenheimer centers on the life and work of Robert J. Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, one of the men behind the infamous Project Manhattan and the-so-called “father of the Atomic Bomb”. So Nolan has definitely done his research on how scientific and technological advances can affect the course of history.