It may sound crazy, but the director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) used artificial intelligence in scenes from Resistance, a film that looks closely at… well, the conflict between humanity and artificial intelligence. In an interview with omeletthe filmmaker explained how he views technology and how machine learning tools helped him in the postproduction of the film.
Edwards was averse to the idea of using performance capture to create a CGI character “I really didn’t want to film people wearing all these polka dots and these funny costumes,” he revealed and turned to Industrial Magic for a solution to find. Industrial Magic has figured out how to use artificial intelligence and machine learning so we don’t need them, so real people can walk around and the computer automatically follows their movements, turning them into robots, in a sense. Still, the work didn’t get much easier. “It still took a lot of work for the artists to fix the problem, but at least we’re halfway there, which was great.”
But from a more personal perspective, Edwards shared how he sees the impact of this technology on the future of humanity. “It’s interesting because we’ve had a lot of other significant technological advances and it doesn’t look like they’ve caused major seismic changes in any particular industry. But somehow we tolerate them and move past them,” he said, before comparing artificial intelligence to cars. “For example, if I told you that we are going to have artificial intelligence, but the problem is that 40,000 people are going to die every year in the United States, you would say, ‘We can’t accept that, we have to get rid of it.’ ‘ This is terrible’. However, that’s exactly what happens with cars. On average, a car causes the death of 40,000 people every year, but we accept that because the benefits are so great.”
“No matter how complicated and bad the negative aspects of artificial intelligence are, I believe that it will inevitably be part of society,” he concluded. “The more we get used to it and accept it and try to learn how to use it, the easier it becomes because it doesn’t go back in the box.”
With a more optimistic view of AIs, Edwards decided to give technology the role of underdog in “Resistance.” To reinforce the message, the director presented the big weapon of artificial intelligence in the form of a child. “I really like dilemmas in films where the character doesn’t have a simple answer. It’s difficult and the public doesn’t know the answer,” he said. “I also wanted to make a road movie in a way, a journey between two opposing characters who need each other and have to learn from each other. Movies like “Rain Man” and, I don’t know if you know, Kevin Costner’s movie “A Perfect World.”
The plot of Resistance takes place in a future in which the war between humans and artificial intelligence is unfolding. There, Joshua (John David Washington), a former special forces agent hardened by the loss of his wife (Gemma Chan) is recruited for a dangerous mission: to hunt down and eliminate the Creator, the architect of advanced artificial intelligence who has developed a mysterious weapon capable of ending war and, with it, all of humanity.
The cast also includes the duo Allison Janney (Mummy), Michael Esper (Frances Ha), Ralph Ineson (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Marc Menchaca (The homeland).
Written and directed by Gareth Edwards, “Resistance” is now available in cinemas across Brazil.
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