“Secret Invasion”, the new Marvel production, causes controversy in Hollywood after its director acknowledged that the opening scene of the television series was generated by artificial intelligence.
A mixture of faces and figures humanoids in greenish tones in constant mutation composes the opening with the credits of the series starring Samuel L. Jackson.
Jackson plays Nick Fury, a super-spy on the hunt for Skrulls, aliens who walk among us undetected thanks to their ability to adapt human forms.
The proposal for the scene was inherent to the theme of the recently released series on the Disney+ platform, its director Ali Selim explained to the Polygon publication.
“It sprang directly from the identity of the shape-shifting Skrull world.to, do you understand?, to wonder who did this? Who is this?” Selim said.
The scene was in charge of the visual effects company Method Studios.
“We’d talk to them about ideas and themes and words, and the computer would go and do something,” Selim said. “And then we could change this up a bit by using words.”
The revelation sparked criticism and concern in Hollywood, where the writers’ union has been on strike for weeks demanding better salary conditions and definitions of the role that artificial intelligence will play in the industry.
“I’m very concerned about the impact this will have,” tweeted Jeff Simpson, who is part of one of the “Secret Invasion” visual artist teams.
“I believe that artificial intelligence is unethical, dangerous, and solely designed to kill artists’ careers.“Simpson added.
Method Studios claimed that artificial intelligence is “just one of the tools” used by its artists, according to a statement sent to The Hollywood Reporter.
“The addition of these new tools did not replace the work of any artist, but rather complemented and helped our creative teams,” the text says.
The fear that artificial intelligence will replace the work of creatives was part of the failed negotiations between the Writers Union of America (WGA) and the studios and platforms.
Jon Lam, an artist in the audiovisual industry, said that using artificial intelligence in this scene it was like “throwing salt on the wound of all the artists and writers in the WGA strike.”
The union, which represents 11,500 writers from the audiovisual industry, is against robotic productions being considered literary material, and that their scripts are used to train artificial intelligence.
But the studios rejected the requests and proposed holding an annual meeting to “discuss advances in technology,” according to the union.