The word is out that documentaries based on information generated by A.I., ignore the facts, rewrite history and diminish trust. Alissa Wilkinson, a reporter at The New York Times, has addressed this issue in her recent article, “A.I. Video Tools Pose a Threat to What’s Real.” She makes the point that filmmakers who use A.I., especially for documentaries, are breaking trust with the viewers who believe what they are seeing is real. Documentary filmmakers need to read this article and join the growing effort to rein in so-called “Artificial Intelligence” especially in the arts.
Here’s a blurb from the article: “Documentaries fundamentally traffic in issues of truth, transparency, and trust. If they use A.I. – so-called synthetic materials – and use them as if they’re real, it’s not just a betrayal of the tacit contract between filmmaker and the audience. The implications are far broader and far more serious: a century of shared history is in jeopardy.”
This controversy came to a head when outraged fans discovered the filmmakers of the Anthony Bourdain documentary “Road Runner” used A.I. for the beloved chef’s voice.