New Delhi: Hollywood’s debate over the use of generative AI in filmmaking has taken a new turn after the Art Directors Guild, or IATSE Local 800, issued a statement criticising filmmaker Martin Scorsese for joining AI startup Black Forest Labs as an advisor. The company specialises in image-generation technology.
In a statement titled, “Mr Scorsese, The Business Is Not in Flux”, the guild said that the Oscar-winning director was turning his back on the human artists who have helped create some of the most memorable works of his career.
In a video uploaded by Black Forest Labs on 2 June, Scorsese reportedly spoke about using the technology during the production of his upcoming film. According to him, the tool allows a person to verbally describe a film, which can then be translated into a production involving around 50 people on set.
“You know, this conveys a cinematic intelligence… that’s the great thing about this tool,” Scorsese said.
Responding to the remarks, the guild argued that generative AI can produce such “cinematic intelligence” by ingesting vast amounts of copyrighted material, much of which may have been scraped from the internet without consent, credit, compensation, or transparency.
“To think their professional contributions can be mimicked or outshone by generative AI, which is built on work likely stolen from them and many other artists from around the world, is a betrayal of the collaborative nature of cinema,” the statement reads.
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Martin Scorsese and technology
This is not the first time Scorsese has explored emerging technologies in filmmaking. From using 3D technology in The Hugo (2011) to using de-ageing effects in The Irishman (2019), the director has often embraced technological innovations to create immersive cinematic experiences.
The Art Directors Guild represents concept artists, illustrators, graphic artists, set designers, production designers and scenic artists. The guild suspended its training programme for young professionals in 2024 due to unemployment caused by the increasing use of AI in filmmaking.
According to a study that came after the strike against the use of AI by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors and Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in 2023, the artists represented by the guild are among those most affected by the technology.
Filmmaker Boots Riley, director of I Love Boosters, also criticised Scorsese’s endorsement of AI. Writing on X, Riley suggested that the director’s decision was made to secure financial stability for his family.
“At 83, they gave his family a gang of money (they throw tens of millions left & right). He wanted the income stream for them and feels like ‘AI’ will fall on its face anyway,” Riley wrote.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)