James Cameron Says AI Could Save Blockbusters—Without Cutting Jobs

Famous filmmaker James Cameron says big-budget movies can only survive if visual effects (VFX) become cheaper. He believes the answer might be artificial intelligence (AI), but only if it helps artists work faster, not take their jobs.

Cameron shared his thoughts on the Boz to the Future podcast. “If we want to continue to see the kinds of movies that I’ve always loved and that I like to make… we’ve got to figure out how to cut the cost of that in half,” he said. “Now that’s not about laying off half the staff… that’s about doubling their speed… so your cadence is faster and your throughput cycle is faster.”

In other words, Cameron wants AI to speed up the process of making movie effects, so artists can finish work faster and move on to more creative projects.

Cameron recently joined the board of Stability AI, the company behind the AI image tool Stable Diffusion. He said his goal wasn’t about making money, but learning. “The goal was to understand the space, to understand what’s on the minds of the developers… and my goal was to try to integrate it into a VFX workflow.”

He explained, “In the old days, I would have founded a company to figure it out. I’ve learned maybe that’s not the best way to do it. So I thought, all right, I’ll join the board of a good, competitive company that’s got a good track record.”

Cameron has always been careful when talking about AI in Hollywood. He doesn’t believe AI should replace people, especially not writers. “I just don’t personally believe that a disembodied mind… is going to move an audience,” he said in a past interview. “You have to be human to write that.”

He added, “Let’s wait 20 years, and if an AI wins an Oscar for best screenplay, I think we’ve got to take them seriously.”

In his latest interview, Cameron also said people should stop asking AI to copy famous directors. Prompts like “in the style of James Cameron” or “in the style of Zack Snyder” bother him. “Those kinds of ripoffs make me a little bit queasy,” he said.

Instead, he encourages filmmakers to honor their influences in their own way. “I aspire to be in the style of Ridley Scott, in the style of Stanley Kubrick… in the style of George Miller: Wide Lens, low, hauling ass, coming up into a tight close up.”

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