Photo: Laurent Hou/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
The role artificial intelligence should play in art is one of Hollywood’s hottest debates. Some people are excited about what the new technology can do, while others are scared of what it means about the future of creativity. Maggie Gyllenhaal, it seems, has found a middle ground. Speaking on a panel at the Venice Film Festival, the director told the audience that she tried using AI on her new short film and just thought that it wasn’t very good. Who could’ve guessed?
“I did try working with AI on this project,” said Gyllenhaal, whose short film Flesh Impact stars Dakota Johnson as Marilyn Monroe. “The people who commissioned this project from me asked me to use AI. And I thought — I mean, they weren’t using OpenAI, they were using licensable AI, training it off of Marilyn Monroe films that we had licensed. And I went for it. I was like, All right, I’m curious, I don’t know, let’s see.”
The result? “It fundamentally did not work,” Gyllenhaal said. The process included using AI to put Monroe’s face on top of Johnson’s. As it turns out, Johnson is simply a better actor than whatever the AI could muster up. “We worked hard at it, and in the end, I threw it away because what was coming through Dakota playing Marilyn Monroe was so much more moving, human, alive,” Gyllenhaal continued. “All the reasons I decided to make this project to begin with were killed off in the AI version.”
More than anything, this makes Gyllenhaal look really good. She’s got an open mind and a good eye for when something looks like garbage. As a bonus, we’re going to get to see Johnson give it her all as Monroe, unassisted by tech — a real win-win for everyone.
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