In a stimulating session noted filmmaker Shekar Kapur discussed whether filmmaking as an art form was now changed due to the result of artificial intelligence. He was joined on stage by fellow filmmaker Anand Gandhi and Pragya Misra who is driving public policy and partnership at OpenAI.
In a discussion that was pretty far reaching the question was raised whether help taken from Artificial intelligence made the user feel guilty and did they still feel it was original thought. It was a question that elicited a wide range of answers from everybody in the hall. Shekar said the tool was new and like all things new it elicited fear. He said when the tractor was first introduced in India , people said it would be the death of farmers. They then said the same about computers years later. But people survived and prospered. These tools Shekar said increased productivity. With AI he said it was still new and evolving and it remained to be seen where it would go.
Pragya Misra provided a demonstration of SORA, an AI-driven text-to-video model that allows users to generate videos from textual prompts. She explained that with simple instructions, SORA can create highly realistic videos, replicating intricate details of human expressions and cultural nuances. She also addressed the ethical considerations surrounding the tool, noting that public figure’s faces are restricted in the model to prevent issues such as misinformation, hate speech, and ethnic discrimination. She emphasized that AI can unlock creative potential and be a powerful tool for humanity, benefiting creators and users globally.
When asked about AI's growing role in filmmaking, Anand Gandhi, highlighted that AI would soon become an inseparable part of the filmmaking process. He asserted that AI will not just assist but actively participate as a co-author in creating films. Regarding AI's potential to recreate ancient scriptures, Pragya Misra confirmed that this was already happening, and she emphasized the importance of democratizing access to such tools. AI could help creators pitch ideas and even secure funding, enabling directors to place their work on a global stage. The discussion then shifted to concerns about AI’s potential to stifle human creativity. To this, Shekhar Kapur said, "AI has a long way to catch up to human imagination because human imagination is born out of uncertainty, love, fear, but for AI, everything is certain”. He revealed that he was presently working on Masoom 2 and he would ask Chat gpt to give him a script from the focus of various actors in the movie and he said he would easily do better than what came out of the software.
Kapur stated that, if we have that inertia to stop thinking and outsource everything to AI, that is inherent then and it is a human problem. Pragya Misra, responded by framing AI as a tool that supports creative expression rather than replacing it. "I can ideate it and better express myself using AI," she added, emphasizing that AI acts as an intelligent assistant to help bring human ideas to life. She clarified that even with the same prompt, SORA generates unique results each time, much like humans, who each interpret prompts differently.
The session concluded on a positive note, with the panel agreeing that while AI can significantly enhance film-making, it will never replace the creative capacity of the human mind.