Tyler Perry has seen demonstrations of what artificial intelligence can do. While he is surprised, he is also sounding the alarm.
Perry is already voting with his wallet on this issue. His plans for an $800 million expansion of his Atlanta studio were put on hold after seeing a demo of OpenAI’s text-to-video model, Sora, which generated buzz with its cinematic video.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Perry appeared to warn filmmakers that they are staring into the abyss.
“It’s one thing to be told he can do all these things, but to see the capabilities in action, it was amazing,” he said. While the businessman sees opportunity in him, he also expressed concerns about the people who work in the business. “There has to be some kind of regulation to protect us. If not, I don’t see how we can survive.”
He continued: “I have been closely monitoring artificial intelligence and monitoring developments closely. I was in the middle of, over the last four years, planning an $800 million expansion of the studio, which was going to massively increase the size of the back space, and we were adding 12 more sound stages. All of this is currently on hold indefinitely because of Sora and what I’m seeing. I’ve heard news over the past year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I recently saw demos of what it could do. “It’s shocking to me.”
It’s easy to see how many jobs could be eliminated when Perry describes what AI can do.
“I no longer have to travel to locations. If I want to be in the snow in Colorado, it’s a text. If I want to write a scene on the moon, it’s a text, and this AI can generate it like nothing. If I want to have two people in a room Living in the mountains, I don’t have to build a set in the mountains, I don’t have to put a set on my piece of land. I can sit in an office and do it with a computer, which is shocking to me.
“It makes me worry a lot about all the people in the business. Because when I was looking at it, I immediately started thinking about everyone in the industry who is going to be affected by this, including the actors, the grips, the electrics, the transport, the sound, the editors, and looking at this, I think this is going to touch everyone.” Something that is a pillar of our industry.”
Perry has used AI in two soon-to-be-announced films.
“I absolutely believe it has to be a comprehensive approach for the entire industry. We can’t have one union fighting every contract every two or three years. I think everyone has to be involved in how we protect the future of our industry, because it is changing rapidly, right before our eyes. I think about All the builders and contractors that won’t be hired because I won’t be doing this next phase of the studio because there’s no need to do that.