‘Without storyboards, I feel like I’m in Grand Central station in my underwear’: film’s fightback against AI

Generative AI is beginning to affect film work, with storyboard artists among the professionals whose jobs appear most directly at risk. Their drawings help directors and crews shape scenes before filming, and artists argue that the collaborative process also develops a film’s visual ideas, rather than simply producing illustrations.

Several high-profile directors are exploring AI tools: Martin Scorsese used a text-to-image model while storyboarding his next film, while James Cameron, Steven Soderbergh and Christopher Nolan have also engaged with the technology in different ways. British storyboard artist Alex Clark says making storyboards involves close discussion with directors and other crew, and requires detailed decisions about composition, movement and how a scene will work on set. The article describes the debate over whether AI can support that work or displace the people whose creative judgement shapes it.