‘It’s a really scary time’: Stunt performers are threatened by artificial intelligence

While the screenwriters’ and actors’ strike is still raging in the United States, the issue of artificial intelligence and its impact is on everyone’s mind. The fear of artificial intelligence replacement is indeed widely discussed, and restrictions are often called for.

As France Info said, now it’s the stuntmen’s turn to express themselves on this topic, the danger is very real for them too. Many studios, in order to save money, use new technologies to create computer silhouettes during stunts on screen. Some even go so far as to “scan their bodies” to get their stunt performers and extras to use a 3D digital version – a realistic model that can move or speak as they wish and as well as possible through artificial intelligence. to replace those whose business it is.

“Technology is improving exponentially. It’s a really scary time ,” explains stunt coordinator Freddie Bussieges (via France Info), who notably worked on the sixth installment of the Terminator franchise—a franchise that also places AI and the catastrophic consequences it can have at the heart of its story.

Progress is very fast

For Neill Blomkamp, ​​the director of Gran Turismo, the profession of stuntman can also disappear quickly. In his current blockbuster, real people drive on-screen racing cars. However, one scene used artificial intelligence, but it was justified because it involved a fatal accident. However, according to the filmmaker, everything will change in a year and artificial intelligence will be able to successfully recreate such scenes. Therefore, “On Let’s get rid of the stuntmen, let’s get rid of the cameras and we don’t go around the circle“: This is a threat.

That’s why screenwriters, actors, and now stuntmen are now demanding that boundaries be put in place to preserve these professions, one question, among many others, that paralyzes Hollywood today as never before.