Shekhar Kapur raises concern over AI’s rapid rise and its impact on Bollywood

Mumbai, Nov 17 (IANS) Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has sparked a fresh conversation in the film industry by highlighting the rapid rise of AI-created performers and their growing influence in global entertainment.

Pointing to virtual personalities already being signed by major agencies and appearing in upcoming OTT projects, he noted that the shift could significantly impact action-heavy and large-scale productions. On Monday, the veteran director took to his Instagram handle and shared a thought-provoking note. While acknowledging AI’s impressive advancements, he emphasized that it still falls short of capturing the emotional depth delivered by seasoned actors, raising important questions about how Bollywood will adapt to this evolving landscape.

Sharing an image of Tilly Norwood, an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated character, Shekhar Kapur wrote, “Most of the world has heard of Tilly Norwood. Here she is at the premier of her first film. Except that Tilly is completely AI created. In a year you will see her in a new OTT series. Traditional Hollywood Agencies are vying to sign her. And of course there is a lot of angst in the Acting Community .. as you would expect. So, what is going to happen to Bollywood?”

“That depends a lot on stars themselves. The more expensive and exclusive they make themselves, the more the film makers will look for AI alternatives. BTW many of the ‘Influencers’ you see on your social media today are not human .. they are AI created .. So what is the reality? I am making my sequel to Masoom now .. but AI cannot capture the complexity of expressions of Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah. Not yet anyway.”

He added, “Yet when we see (say) a Marvel or a Bollywood action film the expressions are rather limited .. fear, aggression. Sexy dance, anger etc .. and the accent is much on costumes.. you can, for example, change the actor, but cannot change Batman or Superman’s costume .. right ? So that’s AI first target .. action films .. and dance sequences and scale ! Yes .. it’s so easy to create scale with AI ! Forget what you just saw saw on AI ..Mahabharat .. that’s just first generation. It’s like the ‘dial up’ Internet days.. some of the stuff I am seeing now is ..pardon the expression.. Mind Blowing .. thoughts?.” (sic)

–IANS

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