AI is 'already being used' in the film industry, 'Inception' director Christopher Nolan says
Christopher Nolan examines the construction of the atomic bomb in his new film "Oppenheimer," opening in theaters later this moth.
The famed British-American director acknowledged the impact artificial intelligence is currently having on the world - similar to the historical impact of the J. Robert Oppenheimer inception of the atomic bomb in the 1940s.
"A lot of the AI researchers I talk to right now, they see this as their - they refer to it as the Oppenheimer moment," Nolan told Fox News Digital of AI infiltrating the entertainment industry.
"It's really the looking back through Oppenheimer's story and saying, ‘Okay, what could have been done differently? What are the responsibilities of people who create technology that can go out and have unintended impacts?’"
"Oppenheimer" director Christopher Nolan shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence infiltrating the film industry. (ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP)
"There's a lot of fear in the film industry right now about how AI is going to impact things. The reality is it's already being used and has been used for years, and that will continue to develop. But a lot of attention needs to be paid to these issues, particularly as it relates to artists' rights, copyrights and things like that," the "Inception" director said of any discomfort surrounding AI.
"I think that that work, and the unions in particular are doing that work right now, and that'll stand us in good stead. Ultimately, it's a tool that has to be viewed as a tool and not allowed to take over the notion of responsibility," he explained.
Christopher Nolan said the onus falls on the people using AI to make sure it is being used in an ethical manner. (Gabe Ginsberg/WireImage)
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"We have to hold people accountable for how they're using this tool," he added.
The film, which stars Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh will premiere on July 21.
Christopher Nolan posed alongside the stars of his film "Oppenheimer" for the London premiere. (Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)
WATCH: CHRISTOPHER NOLAN DISCUSSES AI IN THE FILM INDUSTRY
Nolan is not the first director to address the use of AI in the business.
Justine Bateman adamantly believes that artificial intelligence should not cross over into the arts. (Nathan Congleton/NBC)
Former actor-turned-director Justine Bateman previously told Fox News Digital, "I think AI has no place in Hollywood at all. To me, tech should solve problems that humans have."
"Using ChatGPT or any … software that's using AI to write screenplays, using that in place of a writer is not solving a problem," she continued. "We don't have a lack of writers. We don't have a lack of actors. We don't have a lack of directors. We don't have a lack of talented people."
"It's more complex than what I'm about to say, but you basically … feed it a bunch of information, you give it a task and then, based on the information it has, it gives you the result," she says of AI programming. "It accomplishes the task you gave it. … If you're asking it to write a screenplay, what are you training it on? What are you feeding it? Other people's scripts. That's plagiarism. … The use of it is going to have an incredibly bad effect — disastrous effect on the entertainment business."
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Steven Spielberg previously told Stephen Colbert his own conflicting thoughts on AI on "The Late Show."
"I love anything that is created not by a computer, but by a human person. When a human person uses the medium of the digital tools to express themselves, to say something, that's fantastic," he began.
However, the acclaimed filmmaker admitted that AI also has him "very nervous."
Steven Spielberg shared that artificial intelligence in the film industry makes him "very nervous." (CBS/YouTube)
"You're basically taking something you created, and you made, which is the computer, and giving the computer autonomy over your point of view, and yourself as a human person."
Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer. Story tips can be sent to
