Dakota Johnson Says Audiences Will Be Disgusted by AI Content

"Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullsh*t."

BS Detector

The release of OpenAI's video generation tool Sora last month has reignited concerns — or in the case of tech bros, reignited rabid hopes —  that generative AI will "disrupt" if not replace Hollywood.

But actress Dakota Johnson isn't buying it. In the "Madame Web" star's opinion, AI-generated garbage just isn't going to get butts in seats.

"My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they're not," Johnson said in a new interview with Bustle.

"Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullshit," she added. "Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren't going to fucking want to see those."

Art By Artists

Johnson also had words about modern studio filmmaking at large and how tech can cheapen art — words that are perhaps informed by her personal experience making the critically panned Marvel flop which she headlined.

"It's so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made — and it's even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what's really freaking me out — decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it's made by committee," Johnson told Bustle.

"Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them," she added. "You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms."

Generative Grift

Johnson's remarks could be read as a deft bit of blame-deflecting for the "Madame Web" disaster. But credit where credit's due: more big names in Hollywood should probably come out and take a firm stance on AI's role in the industry.

Her indictment of the technology stands in sharp contrast to filmmaker Tyler Perry's response to Sora's debut in February. Perry, a wealthy producer and director, said that he was pausing the expansion of his Atlanta studio because AI could generate any location "like nothing" — though some have pointed out that this could be his excuse for bailing on his costly plans.

The Marvel universe itself has been the center of AI controversies. Last June, fans were outraged when they discovered that opening credits for the "Secret Invasion" miniseries were AI-generated. Joe Russo, one half of the directing duo that helmed several of Marvel's biggest movies, said that he expected AI-made movies in just two years.

Whatever becomes of AI in the movie industry, our hopeful guess is Johnson's instincts are right: people will eventually "sniff out the bullshit" — maybe not unlike how they're finally catching on that the deluge of superhero movies suck, too.

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