New Delhi: While Spider-Man is fighting an invisible villain in the trailer for the upcoming Marvel movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day, released on 19 June, actor Tom Holland is busy defending artists from AI. In a recent interview on the Spanish talk show El Hormiguero, the Spider-Man actor shared that AI does not have a soul, which makes him feel protected, as technology can not be creative.
“Creativity is safe from AI because creativity has to do with the human experience. It’s about emotions, it’s about understanding one another,” Holland said.
He shared that AI can process data but can not understand human emotions, as it does not grasp the difference between happiness and sadness.
“The way artists paint, it’s not about what they’re copying, it’s about expressing themselves, so I feel protected,” he added.
Hollywood weighs in on AI
AI is one of the most concerning topics for artists worldwide. The debate started in 2023 when SAG-AFTRA went on Hollywood’s longest-ever strike against film and television studios, with concerns over the use of the technology in filmmaking and the replacement of writers and other artists.
Three years later, the debate has resurfaced after Martin Scorsese joined AI researchers Black Forest Labs as an advisor and revealed that he is using the technology to create storyboards for his upcoming untitled film. He referred to AI as a painter that helps put what he thinks and plans onto a canvas, and shared how he has always struggled to bring exactly what he imagined onto the screen.
“No one on the set over the last 45 years knows what the picture in your head is. There’s always been that problem of what you see in here,” Scorsese said while announcing his latest partnership.
Joining Martin’s gang of AI-assisted artists is Boy George, lead singer of the UK pop band Culture Club, who is using AI through what he calls “ethical re-recording.” The process uses original recordings to create newer versions with a warmer, more contemporary sound. The technique has been used in the band’s newly released version of the 1983 hit ‘Karma Chameleon.’
Whereas Steven Spielberg is swinging with Spiderman, in a podcast with Michelle Obama to promote his latest film, Disclosure Day. Spielberg also spoke about how AI cannot replace human emotion. The filmmaker added that he does not want interference from computer language models in deciding how his film’s characters should behave or how his camera should move.
“If AI wants to help me find locations, that’s great. Saves us some legwork… Use AI as a tool, but do not use AI as the final word on anything creative,” he said.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes the story forward from Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), where the world has forgotten that Peter Parker (Holland) is Spider-Man, and even his loved ones no longer remember him. In the new mission, Punisher and Hulk join the friendly neighbourhood superhero to save New York City from an invisible villain.
The film is set to release in India on 30 July. However, it has not secured any IMAX screens yet, as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has booked almost every IMAX screen in the country.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)