In the next few years, the world as we know it will be profoundly changed. No warning, no debate, just the power of technology transforming work, family, religion, society, politics, economics and war. The struggles between nations now hinge not so much on land and oil, but on chips, models and computing capacity. And as the USA drowns in debt and China builds data fortresses wired to the practically endless supplies of solar and wind energy, AI is becoming the new arms race. History tends to leap forward in big strides; the printing press, gunpowder, electricity, the internet. AI is the next industrial revolution, and it’s growing exponentially.
Zoom into the film industry
The shift in film is well underway. AI now writes, edits, and generates shots and scenes at the speed of thought. The writing is still clumsy, the editing uneven, but both are improving fast. The visuals, and even music and voices, are already pretty effective and getting better by the week. So we’re witnessing the birth of a new form of storytelling; no sets, no cameras, no actors, no limits. We are fully immersed in the biggest revolution in cinema history ever. The previous landmarks in the movie-making timeline, such as the advent of sound, traditional animation, the invention of colour film, the transition to the digital medium, or the use of CGI, cannot be compared to the deep changes that film is undergoing right now. We may not like it. We may feel uncomfortable about it, as many people were with the discovery of electricity, or when the first talkies broke out onto the screens, but AI-generated films are here to stay, evolve and change the way we make movies and how we experience them, forever.
If we divide all films into animation and live-action, animation is about to take over a much bigger piece of the pie, since AI films, even when they look hyperreal, can be described as computer-animated films. Will there still be live-action films, with actors, cameras and sets? I certainly hope so. And I believe so. But traditional films will be severely impacted as they are hit by the pixel tsunami of AI films as an aggressive competitor. Traditional films will also get more interesting, just as painting exploded throughout the 20th century, when it was challenged by the photographic camera, and painters started exploring what they could do that a camera could not. Van Gogh, Picasso and Dalí are a product of this technological challenge.
The Next Industrial Revolution
Before the printing press in the 15th century, books were mostly handwritten and hand-copied by scribes in monasteries. Literacy was rare, and knowledge was controlled by a clerical elite in religious institutions. Gutenberg’s device didn’t just speed up book production. It expanded access to knowledge, shifted cultural authority, reached entirely new audiences and disrupted the communication monopoly. In our predominantly audiovisual societies, AI imaging and filmmaking is doing something of comparable impact in the media landscape. And just as the printing press enabled writers and thinkers outside church and academe, AI tools are allowing filmmakers outside the studios to generate visuals, trailers, full scenes, short films, commercials, and soon enough, entire feature films and tv series. Not to speak of news, documentaries and non-fiction in general, which is a big pandora’s box, for another article.
Unnerving but Inevitable
My point is that, initially, people resisted printed books. They feared they lacked the substance and moral weight of handwritten texts. A printed bible seemed impersonal. But eventually, the new paradigm took hold and became established. We’re in a similar moment in history. Our current scepticism in the face of AI images is strong. We might say that “AI movies are not real,” “There’s no life,” “It’s weird.” But these objections echo past transitions, such as when people suspected that electricity was the work of the devil. But over time, as AI-generated films become more nuanced, narratively complex and emotionally resonant, audiences likely will begin to watch and focus more on story than technique. And just as early writers and publishers experimented with their printers, typography, layout, and distribution, we as filmmakers are currently experimenting with the constantly evolving software, prompt engineering, image curation and video animation, all within a new creative and production ecosystem. As with the printing press, AI technology does not eliminate the craft. It reshapes it. And it moves the boundaries, empowering new gatekeepers, while diminishing the reach of old ones. Most importantly, it expands narrative possibilities and the range of voices that can reach audiences with their stories. So AI is not the death of cinema. It’s a new beginning. And like the first printed books, it may feel awkward, until it doesn’t.
Karloff: Your AI Filmmaking Companion
Boris Karloff was the actor who famously played Frankenstein, an iconic character which is a powerful symbol of the creative and technological crossroads we find ourselves in. ‘The creature’ was both exciting and scary, as perhaps is AI filmmaking. Also, in one of the early film adaptations, the construction process of this new being was visualised as a gathering of different human parts, brought to life by electricity. The concept is eerily reminiscent of the way the image of a human is generated with AI today, by collecting anatomical data on the Internet, combining it, and bringing a face or a body to life on the electronic network. Boris Karloff was also an actor who successfully transitioned to a new technology, a change which disrupted the film industry in his days, going from silent movies to talkies. And this is the trail we’re following at Delirio AI Film Production House, where we are witnessing the birth of AI filmmaking and embracing it daily. Our channel, Karloff, is our homage to the actor, the character, and our way to ask questions, study the craft, and invite you to join the conversation.
