"Performance from scratch with a text prompt": James Cameron claims generative AI replacing actors is "horrifying"

James Cameron, who is gearing up for the release of his much-anticipated film Avatar: Fire and Ash, recently opened up about his views on AI. In an interview with CBS News, published on Saturday, November 30, the famed director explained the "horrifying" reality that has now emerged, where AI can create actors from scratch, something he said he would never do. He said:

“Now, go to the other end of the spectrum, and you’ve got generative AI, where they can make up a character. They can make up an actor. They can make up a performance from scratch with a text prompt. It’s like, no. That’s horrifying to me. That’s the opposite. That’s exactly what we’re not doing."

James Cameron's upcoming film Avatar: Fire and Ash, which follows the 2022 film Avatar: The Way of the Water, is set to have its world premiere at Dolby Theatre today, December 1. The film, produced by Lightstorm Entertainment, includes an ensemble cast featuring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, and others.

More from James Cameron's interview, as the Oscar-winning director speaks on his views of AI

In his recent interview with CBS News, James Cameron also reflected on his journey to Hollywood and his rise to fame following his directorial debut with The Terminator. He went on to explain how watching Star Wars would, in turn, inspire his own directorial path. He said:

"I lived in a world of my imagination – it was comic books, it was science fiction. I read a lot. There were movies, TV shows. I mean, I had a pretty fertile imagination. Watching 'Star Wars.' I used to put my headphones on and listen to fast electronic music and imagine space battles, hyperkinetic space battles with all kinds of maneuvers and energy weapons, and people going through debris fields and all that. If the things I'm seeing in my mind can be the same things that are in a movie that's the number one movie in movie history, then I've got a salable imagination."

In his interview, James Cameron, who is set to direct Billie Eilish's 3D concert film, releasing next year, also explained the technology he continues to use for his films. He said:

"For years, there was this sense that, ‘Oh, they’re doing something strange with computers and they’re replacing actors,’ when in fact, once you really drill down and you see what we’re doing, it’s a celebration of the actor-director moment. I'm attracted, in case you haven't noticed, by things I don't know how to do. Because you grow and you learn. If I'm still making movies when I got an oxygen tube up my nose and I'm 87 or whatever, should I be that lucky, I want to still be doing things I don't know how to do."

Avatar: Fire and Ash is scheduled to be released in theaters across the US on December 19.

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