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Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Why AI Filmmaking Will Fail: James Gray on Film's 'Vinyl' Retro Moment
www.indiewire.com: When it comes to AI, director James Gray doesn’t mince words. The auteur called the current push for AI-driven filmmaking “obscene,” but he told IndieWire in a recent interview he has increasingly come to believe that it is a movement that will ultimately fail.
A lot of pop culture has started to enter an “analog” phase as a response to AI. Typically this is seen with people wanting to use disposable cameras, vinyl records, and CDs instead of their modern counterparts we have access to with smartphones. I thought this article was interesting because it explored how this analog style can be applied to film. The main idea filmmaker James Gray proposed was that using “vintages lenses and equipment” in the filmmaking process will overpower the use of AI in filmmaking because of one major factor: disposability. The reason why AI is receiving so much backlash is the fact that there’s so much of it everywhere, because it can be produced and reproduced so quickly. People are tired of “AI slop” constantly being in everyday life. By using older media that can’t be as easily reproduced in the creative process, it creates something more unique and imperfect, therefore making something more valuable. It’s honestly a beautiful artistic viewpoint, because it celebrates the past moment in which something is created, rather than the instantaneous moment most digital media forms promote. In a way, a unique piece of art captures the past by forever freezing in time the moment in which it was created. Value of an item can be determined by how hard or easy it is to access an item, so celebrating the past in a piece of art gives more value to the traditional art, while also decreasing the perceived value of AI-generated work because of how widespread it is. Going analog decreases the value of AI “art” drastically.
While I agree with James Gray that filmmaking that utilizes AI in place of creatives is not likely to last, I can't help but wonder if this desire for the imperfections of the past is not the latest iteration in a constant cycle of nostalgia and desire for the past. While now the younger generations look back on vinyls with a longing for the past, so too did girls of the 1970s as they mixed 1920s fashion into their daily wear. Do we truly value the more handmade, error prone cinematic techniques of the past, or do we currently idolize them for being "of the past?" I think the answer depends on what comes next. If this trend of returning to more traditional filmmaking techniques persists, not just for a few years, but for decades, than surely it is what audiences and creatives alike want to see. However, there is also, in my opinion, a high likelihood that just as we currently look back with fondness upon analog technology, soon enough we will look back with a fondness towards this current era of filmmaking. Only time can tell for certain.
I do like the positivity gray has for the future of filmmaking, I’ve seen a lot more pessimistic takes on how the future will be with generative ai in the mix and it’s cool to see a different opinion. I half agree with his outlook and I half disagree with it. I think there will always be people the recognize that art is more meaningful when it has human hands behind it, we’re seeing it a lot right now I would say a large majority of people have a greater appreciation for art when they know it is human made and can recognize the work went into. On the other hand there are also a large number of people who are indifferent to this topic, millions of people consume ai content and don’t really care that it’s ai and while this is mostly happening on social media I think it’s fair to suspect this might move on the other forms of media as well like movies. If there’s an audience that will consume ai content then I can see it having a permanent place in the medium.
3 comments:
A lot of pop culture has started to enter an “analog” phase as a response to AI. Typically this is seen with people wanting to use disposable cameras, vinyl records, and CDs instead of their modern counterparts we have access to with smartphones. I thought this article was interesting because it explored how this analog style can be applied to film. The main idea filmmaker James Gray proposed was that using “vintages lenses and equipment” in the filmmaking process will overpower the use of AI in filmmaking because of one major factor: disposability. The reason why AI is receiving so much backlash is the fact that there’s so much of it everywhere, because it can be produced and reproduced so quickly. People are tired of “AI slop” constantly being in everyday life. By using older media that can’t be as easily reproduced in the creative process, it creates something more unique and imperfect, therefore making something more valuable. It’s honestly a beautiful artistic viewpoint, because it celebrates the past moment in which something is created, rather than the instantaneous moment most digital media forms promote. In a way, a unique piece of art captures the past by forever freezing in time the moment in which it was created. Value of an item can be determined by how hard or easy it is to access an item, so celebrating the past in a piece of art gives more value to the traditional art, while also decreasing the perceived value of AI-generated work because of how widespread it is. Going analog decreases the value of AI “art” drastically.
While I agree with James Gray that filmmaking that utilizes AI in place of creatives is not likely to last, I can't help but wonder if this desire for the imperfections of the past is not the latest iteration in a constant cycle of nostalgia and desire for the past. While now the younger generations look back on vinyls with a longing for the past, so too did girls of the 1970s as they mixed 1920s fashion into their daily wear. Do we truly value the more handmade, error prone cinematic techniques of the past, or do we currently idolize them for being "of the past?" I think the answer depends on what comes next. If this trend of returning to more traditional filmmaking techniques persists, not just for a few years, but for decades, than surely it is what audiences and creatives alike want to see. However, there is also, in my opinion, a high likelihood that just as we currently look back with fondness upon analog technology, soon enough we will look back with a fondness towards this current era of filmmaking. Only time can tell for certain.
I do like the positivity gray has for the future of filmmaking, I’ve seen a lot more pessimistic takes on how the future will be with generative ai in the mix and it’s cool to see a different opinion. I half agree with his outlook and I half disagree with it. I think there will always be people the recognize that art is more meaningful when it has human hands behind it, we’re seeing it a lot right now I would say a large majority of people have a greater appreciation for art when they know it is human made and can recognize the work went into. On the other hand there are also a large number of people who are indifferent to this topic, millions of people consume ai content and don’t really care that it’s ai and while this is mostly happening on social media I think it’s fair to suspect this might move on the other forms of media as well like movies. If there’s an audience that will consume ai content then I can see it having a permanent place in the medium.
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