George Lucas Supports AI as the Future of Filmmaking
The Star Wars director has expressed strong support for the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the film industry, describing it as "the future" of moviemaking and emphasizing its inevitability.
In a recent interview, Lucas, aged 82, stated:
"Artificial intelligence means it’s much easier for us to make movies."
He compared resistance to AI technology to an outdated attachment to obsolete transportation methods, saying:
"Resistance to the new technology is very much like sitting here saying, ‘Well, I believe the horse and the buggy is really where it’s at. These cars, they break down, they need gas, there’s all kinds of problems with them and pretty soon they’ll be making them into tanks, and then they’ll be killing people. It’s terrible.’"
Lucas emphasized that the adoption of AI tools is unavoidable, adding:
"There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s progress, it’s the future."
Other Directors’ Perspectives on AI in Filmmaking
Lucas is not alone among Star Wars directors in his positive stance on AI. British filmmaker Gareth Edwards, known for directing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the recent Jurassic World Rebirth, praised generative AI, calling it:
"a fucking genius at helping you."
However, some prominent filmmakers remain skeptical. Christopher Nolan, director of The Odyssey, expressed reservations about AI’s acceptance, noting:
"I’ve never seen a technology that’s been so successfully adopted by Wall Street and by investors … that the public has so thoroughly rejected. Young people in particular, they coined this term ‘AI slop’ … There’s a sort of disdain for things AI."
Meanwhile, Steven Soderbergh, whose documentary King of the Jungle incorporates AI-generated sequences, conveyed a more ambivalent view:
"I don’t think it’s the solution to everything, and I don’t think it’s the death of everything. We’re in the very early stages. Five years from now, we all may be going, ‘That was a fun phase.’"
Lucas on Audience Testing and Focus Groups
In addition to his comments on AI, Lucas shared his opinions on the film industry's reliance on audience testing and focus groups. He expressed skepticism about their value, stating:
"I don’t like focus groups. The audience doesn’t know what they want to see. If they don’t like a character, that’s interesting, and as a film-maker I want to find out why. But when the studios hear that, they take the wrong message. They let the audience actually make the movie … Now, it’s all about what the fans think. That isn’t how you make the movie."
