AI is controversial in Hollywood. For China’s film business, it’s no holds barred

Hollywood’s relationship with artificial intelligence is heavy, because studios balance the need to reduce costs with increasing concerns of actors, directors and crew members. But in China, efforts to use AI in entertainment adopt a shorter approach without restraint.

The China Film Foundation, a non -profit fund under the Chinese government, plans to use AI to revitalize 100 classics from Kung Fu, notably “Police Story”, “Once Upon a Time in China” and “Fist of Fury”, with Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee, respectively. The Foundation said it joins forces such as Shanghai Canxing Culture & Media Co., which will concede 100 Hong Kong films to AI societies to reintroduce these films to a younger audience in the world.

Chow Yun-Fat plays in “A Better Tomorrow” by director John Woo in 1986.

(Cinema City)

The Foundation said there are opportunities to use AI to tell these stories by animation, for example. It is planned to publish an animated version of the 1986 film by director John Woo “A Best Tomorrow” which uses AI to “reinterpret” the “visual signature language” of Woo, according to an English transcription of the ad.

“Entering cultural narration with technology, we can breathe new life into the classics and tell the stories of more distant China,” said Zhang Pimin, president of China Film Foundation, Shanghai International Film Festival at the beginning of the month.

The project has raised the eyebrows among American artists, many of whom are deeply wary of the use of AI in creative activities.

Directors Guild of America said that AI is a creative tool that should only be used to improve the creative narration process and “it should never be used retroactively to distort or destroy the artistic work of a filmmaker”.

“The DGA is firmly opposed to the use of AI or any other technology to mutilate a film or modify the vision of a director,” the DGA said in a press release. “The guild has a long-standing story to oppose such modifications on questions such as colorization or disinfection of films to eliminate the so-called reprehensible content ”, or other changes that fundamentally modify the original style, meaning and substance of a film.”

The project highlights largely divergent opinions on the potential of Reshape The entertainment of the AI ​​while the two countries compete for domination in the very competitive space of the AI. In the United States, a large part of the traditional entertainment industry adopted a lukewarm vision of the generative AI, due to the concerns concerning the protection of intellectual relations and labor relations.

While some Hollywood studios such as Lionsgate and Blumhouse have collaborated with AI companies, others hesitated to announce partnerships at the risk of offending talents that have expressed concerns about how AI could be used to modify their digital resemblance without adequate compensation.

But other countries like China have fewer railing, which has led to more experimentation with technology by entertainment companies.

Many people in China adopt AI, with 83% confidence that AI systems are designed to act in the best interest of society, much higher than the United States where it is 37%, according to a survey of the United Nations Development Program.

The announcement of the Foundation surprised Bruce Lee Enterprises, who oversees the legal use of Lee’s resemblance in creative works.

Bruce Lee’s family was “previously unconscious of this development and currently collects information,” said a spokesperson.

Woo, in a written statement, said that he had not heard of the AI ​​remake foundation, noting that the rights of “A Better Tomorrow” have changed hands several times.

“I was not really involved in the project because I don’t know AI technology very well,” Woo said in a press release. “However, I am very curious about the result and the effect it could have on my original film.”

David Chi, who represents the special fund of China Film Foundation for cinema and urban development, said in an interview that Chan is aware of the project and that he planned to speak with the Chan team. A Chan representative did not respond to a request for comments.

“We have to speak … Very specifically how we use existing animated or AI technology, and how it would be combined with its image rights and commercial rights,” said Chi. Chi did not have an immediate response to the DGA, to Bruce Lee Enterprises and the declarations of Woo.

The AI ​​is already used in China for the development of scripts, content moderation and recommendations and translation. In the postproduction, AI has reduced time to finish the work of visual effects of days at times, said Tao, an official of the National Radio and Television Administration Research Center, during the Festival remarks.

“In all government agencies, content platforms and production institutions, the enthusiasm to adopt and integrate AI has never been stronger,” he said.

During the announcement of the project, supporters presented the opportunity that AI will bring to China to continue its cultural message worldwide and generate new work for creatives. At the same time, they praised the disturbance by AI of the AI ​​of the process of making cinema, saying that the remake “A Better Tomorrow” was completed with only 30 people, much less of a typical animated project.

China is a “more brutal society in this sense,” said Eric Harwit, professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. “If someone loses their job because artificial intelligence takes over, well, it’s just the cost of the future of China. They do not have this kind of regret about people who lose jobs and there are fewer protests organized against the Chinese government.”

A scene from the film “Once Upon a Time in China”.

(Golden Harvest)

The Hollywood guilds such as Sag-Aftra were frank on the damage that AI could have on jobs and fought for protections against AI in contracts in television, movies and video games. Unions have also prompted states and federal legislators to create laws that would give people more protections against deep counterfeits, or manipulated videos to show a person approving an idea or a product that they do not really support. There is no equivalent of this in China.

“You do not have these independent work organizations, so they do not have this kind of weight to protest against the Chinese using artificial intelligence in a way that could reduce their job opportunities or lead to layoffs in the sector,” added Harwit.

American studios also do so to contest the means to train their models on the material protected by copyright. Earlier this month, Walt Disney Co. and Universal Pictures continued the AI ​​Midjourney startup, alleging that he uses technology to generate images that copy famous studios, especially Yoda and Shrek.

In China, the officials involved in the Remaster Kung Fu Films project said they were impatient to work with AI companies. They said the AI ​​will be used to add “amazing realism” to the films. They plan to build “immersive viewing experiences” as entering a bamboo forest duel and “feeling the philosophy of movement and immobility”. In areas such as animation, new environments could be created with AI, said Chi.

“We offer full access to our intellectual property rights, platform and adaptation to partners from around the world-with the aim of delivering works of improved, more diversified and high quality AI films, to Shanghai Canxing Culture & Media Co. In his remarks earlier this month. Tian said that there is no income sharing ceiling and that he allocates around 14 million dollars Co-investment in selected projects and to share the yields.

Revitalization efforts of Kung FU will extend in other fields, including the creation of a martial arts video game.

Industry observers said China was wise to return to popular martial arts classics in Hong Kong, which have been inspired by American action films for decades.

There is not as many risks for China, said Simon Pulman, partner of the law firm Pryor Cashman.

“They have very little to lose by doing this,” said Pulman. “If this can potentially improve the value of these films, there is very little drawback for them.”

The Chinese film industry has developed considerably compared to decades ago, stimulated by the proliferation of cinemas, including IMAX screens, in the country.

In the past, the Chinese box office was counting strongly on American productions such as films of “Fast & Furious” franchises and Marvel, but now local films dominate the market. The Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2” reported $ 2.2 billion at the box office around the world.

But these Chinese productions generally do not draw American public public people when they are released in the United States. Classic martial arts films, however, have a following and durable overall heritage.

“People love martial arts films because the action moves,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “No matter what language it is, if you have a great sequence of action and major combat sequences.”