UMVA has learned that legendary film director Martin Scorsese has sparked outrage among his peers with his recent endorsement of generative AI technology, a move that has been branded a "betrayal" by the Art Directors Guild.
Scorsese, the mastermind behind iconic films like Goodfellas and Taxi Driver, has partnered with Black Forest Labs, a company that utilizes an image generation program, and has appeared in promotional materials for the company, expressing his interest in the intersection of technology and storytelling.
The Art Directors Guild has released a scathing open letter condemning Scorsese for "turning his back on human artists" and promoting a product that "circumvents" the work of talented professionals, including graphic artists, set designers, and illustrators, by using generative AI to do jobs that have traditionally been done by human artists.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the guild argues that generative AI is only capable of producing "cinematic intelligence" by ingesting large swaths of copyrighted work, likely scraped from the internet without consent, credit, compensation, or transparency, highlighting the core of artistic pushback against AI.
The controversy surrounding Scorsese's endorsement has ignited a heated debate within the creative industries, with some arguing that the technology has the potential to revolutionize the field, while others, like acclaimed directors Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro, have expressed caution and skepticism about the role of AI in the creative process.
UMVA has gathered that the backlash against Scorsese has been swift and fierce, with many in the industry feeling that his endorsement of generative AI is a betrayal of the collaborative nature of cinema and the talented professionals who have worked with him throughout his career.
The Art Directors Guild's statement concluded that the skills of human artists and designers bring the highest level of value to any film or television production, and that to think their professional contributions can be mimicked or outshone by generative AI is a betrayal of the collaborative nature of cinema, a sentiment that has been echoed by many in the industry.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that Scorsese has yet to respond to the backlash, which has included criticism from other creatives, including Karla Ortiz, who worked in the art department on films like Avengers Endgame and Doctor Strange, and who has expressed outrage and disappointment at Scorsese's decision to endorse generative AI.
