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‘Musk’ Producer, Atwater-Magnific Exec & ‘Gods Don’t Give Gifts’ Director Talk AI: “It’s Important To Get In The Driver’s Seat” – Zurich Summit
Film professionals at the Zurich Summit discussed AI’s growing influence on cinema, stressing that creators and industry leaders must actively shape its ethical and commercial use. Vania Schlogel argued that AI is already affecting society and human empathy, while Nick Shumaker supported its potential but warned that generative systems may exploit copyrighted work without permission.
Schlogel said disturbing AI-generated content had convinced her to engage with the technology rather than avoid it, despite concerns that confident AI systems can encourage people to defer to them. Shumaker said Alex Gibney’s documentary *Musk* used little AI, mainly for post-production lip-synching, while Zack London, whose film *Gods Don’t Give Gifts* was fully AI-generated, criticised polarised debates that treat AI as a single, uniform technology.
In short
- Film leaders urged creators to shape AI’s ethical direction.
- Copyright theft remains a major unresolved concern.
- AI use ranges from light assistance to fully generated films.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
AI is already shaping culture and how people relate to one another, so filmmakers should engage with it and help set ethical standards rather than leave decisions to others. Used thoughtfully, it can support creative work, as in limited post-production applications, and treating AI as one uniform technology risks obscuring meaningful differences between tools and uses.
The case against
Active engagement should not mean accepting AI’s use without safeguards: generative systems may draw on copyrighted work without creators’ permission, raising concerns about consent and fair compensation. Their confident outputs may also encourage people to defer to machines, with potential costs to human judgement and empathy.
Explained simply
Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in the film industry for practical tasks like editing and visual effects, and can also generate new content. The technology raises concerns about whether AI systems might use existing films and artwork without permission, and whether increased reliance on it might diminish human creativity and emotional storytelling.
Film professionals at the Zurich Summit discussed how the industry should respond to AI's expansion. Rather than ignoring the technology, they argued that filmmakers and producers must actively shape how it develops and is used. One concern raised was that AI systems could gain so much authority that people defer to them rather than maintaining human judgment and creative input.
A key point was that AI is not one single technology but many different tools used for different purposes. The professionals stressed the importance of the creative industry having a voice in determining how AI is used in cinema, both ethically and commercially, rather than having such decisions made without their participation.
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