George Miller, the feted Australian director behind the Mad Max franchise, has said that he welcomes the disruption AI will bring to the movie business.
In an interview with The Guardian, Miller said he has an “intense curiosity” about the technology and how it will influence storytelling in the future.
The filmmaker was speaking after agreeing to lead the judging at Australia’s Omni AI film festival, which takes place in the coming weeks.
His interest comes amid a lively industry conversation about Tilly Norwood, dubbed the world’s first AI actress, and The Sweet Idleness, which is claimed to be the first film directed by AI.
“AI is arguably the most dynamically evolving tool in making moving image,” Miller said. “As a filmmaker, I’ve always been driven by the tools. AI is here to stay and change things.”
The Happy Feet director likened the rise of generative AI to the introduction of oil paint, which “gave artists the freedom to revise and enhance their work over time.”
“A similar debate unfolded in the mid-19th century with the arrival of photography. Art has to evolve. And while photography became its own form, painting continued. Both changed, but both endured. Art changed.”
He added: “It’s the balance between human creativity and machine capability, that’s what the debate and the anxiety is about.”
Miller — who said he was looking for “emotional resonance,” not technical novelty, from Omni AI film festival entries — added that the technology is helping democratize filmmaking.
“It will make screen storytelling available to anyone who has a calling to it,” he explained. “I know kids not yet in their teens using AI. They don’t have to raise money. They’re making films – or at least putting footage together. It’s way more egalitarian.”