No, I Think This (Admittedly Incredible) Star Wars Movie Shows The Limits Of AI

Greeted as “the best Star Wars Film for years, “The short film by Kavan Cardoza” The Ghost Apprentice “rather shows the limits of AI. There is an intense debate in Hollywood on the future of AI; some are convinced that technology is Mastered, while others believe that the possibilities are exaggerated, and that it threatens artistic talent.

Which naturally means a recent article by Forbes fascinated me. Charlie Fink – a former technological director who covers the AI, XR, and the Metaverse for Forbes – published which is equivalent to a review of a new short film generated by Kavan Cardoza (known professionally under the name of Kavan the Kid). Controversial, the article bore the title “”The best Star Wars film for years is made with AI.“” I admit that I was initially rather amused, because there is no has been A Star Wars Film for years, so there are not exactly many competitors … but my curiosity has been stung.

“The Ghost Apprentice” is a great story of Star Wars

It’s better the AI ​​that I used to see

I am surely not the only one to have noticed that my YouTube has been absolutely filled with IA videos in recent times. Most have strengthened my general distrust of AI, but some of them are worth watching. “The Ghost Apprentice” is one of the best I have ever seen; The story is a riff on the classic Skywalker saga, but it is done in a fresh and original way. I like central vanity, the idea of ​​a young Jedi Padawan who was taught by the ghost of the strength of his uncle, and who comes out to hide to face a Sith Lord.

Forbes‘writer, Charlie Fink, rents “The Ghost Apprentice” for his story, his emotional depth and “The pure technical shine of its execution.“I agree with the story, the execution is strong, and the dialogue certainly has a strong emotional depth. Fink – a university professor – apparently showed the short film to his students in a conference room, and his review was simple: “”It looked great. No artefacts, no hallucinations. If I did not tell you that the spectacular visuals were made by AI, you would not know it. The narration of the kick was Cardoza.“”

I do not fully agree.

Without actors, you are not passionate

Emotion is not quite there

The dialogue in the ghost apprentice “is great, and the script works very well. The problem, however, is that Everything seems a little … flat. Take, for example, a character who is a pilot; Its lines have so many Sass, and you can feel the raw potential. But AI cannot deliver it; The lines are passionless and facial expressions do not contain any of these microfuetures that a real human being demonstrates when they speak. AI works roughly for Jedi – it is an approximation of the serenity sought under the Jedi code – but this is not the case for anyone else.

AI can deliver superb stories, but it cannot deliver passion. You need real actors for this, artists who have something unique and original, rather than an AI simulation which is – by nature – derivative. This is one of the best Star Wars Stories that I have seen, but it always proves why AI cannot create films. AI cannot give real spontaneous performance; The raw potential of the script is always unexploited, because only a human being can draw inspiration From the lines on a page, creating something much more transcendative.

The AI ​​makes trilogy errors of the prequel of George Lucas still worse still

Technology must be managed much wiser

George Lucas himself considers cinema that is inevitable. He always liked to push the limits in technological terms, and he would undoubtedly have a pioneer the use of the AI ​​if he was involved in Star Wars Today. “”It’s inevitable,“Lucas said Gross fr In an interview at the Cannes Film Festival last year. “”I mean, that’s like saying: “I don’t think these cars will work. Just feel with the horses. Let’s stay with horses. And yes, you can say that, but that’s not how the world works.“”

Lucas is right. But here is the catch; We all know that his own attempts to push the limits of science in cinema have not always succeeded. I saw again The ghost threat On the big screen last year, and its sumptuous use of CGI resisted better than I thought; But it’s always strange that Original trilogy films, with their practical effects, have aged rather better than prequal. Lucas overused CGI, creating breathtaking environments that simply did not feel quite real. This is the same problem that Lucasfilm currently encounters with an overuse of volume, revolutionary CGI environment technology.

My best supposition is that cinematographic AI will follow the same model as the use of CGI: that some studios are initially about to use it, creating stories that – as good – do not feel anchored and real. Innovators will enter, just like The ghost threat was far exceeded by James Cameron AvatarAnd they will find ways to use it well. But there will always be a need for human beings in production, for performances, for actors, for inspiration. There is no deletion of the human element, and “The Ghost Apprentice” proves it.

IA fans movies are missing which makes movies of fans great

There is so much more in fans movies

I can understand the attraction of the AI ​​when it comes to making films of fans. In 2001, Fanfic became my door in the Star Wars Fandom as a whole; I can imagine myself as a young writer, excited to transform my ideas into something solid and visual. But it is misunderstood what a fans film really is; Because, in the soul, each production is a collaboration. When you transform a fanfic into a fan film, you allow others to participate in the story, to have his say on the way the characters and the concepts are represented.

The best fan movies are wonderful to watch. You find yourself to wonder of characterization and representations, during cascade performance Star Wars The fan really wants to show what they can do with a lightsaber?). Sometimes, as for the original trilogy, you can feel where budgetary limitations have made things impossible; On other occasions, you are amazed at what they managed to withdraw. “How did they do this?” You wonder.

Regarding AI, however, there is not such a feeling of wonder. You know exactly how it was created: a computer did it. There is no collaboration, no interpretation, only the works of a single writer brought to something that looks like “life” on a screen. As I said, I can understand the attraction; But the best Star Wars Fans movies are so much more.