Hollywood remains divided over the use of AI in filmmaking, but actor and director Mark Wahlberg believes the technology has a place in the industry as long as it’s used in the right way.
Entrepreneur and angel investor Wahlberg took to TechCrunch Disrupt to share his thoughts on the role of AI in filmmaking and how he’s open to AIs that look like him continuing his legacy.
The actor said he is planning the possibility of using AI to enhance certain aspects of the Pete Rose biopic, in which he is set to star in the title role.
“This is a pretty expensive movie, but we’re talking about leveraging (AI) to enhance the stadium setting, things of that nature,” Wahlberg said. “I don’t think you can just put an idea in ChatGPT and write a script. You have to create it without using real actors. But if you can use it to enhance what you’re doing, I’m all for it.”
That said, Wahlberg specifically mentioned his belief that storytelling should remain at the heart of filmmaking.
“I’ve been making big movies with lots of effects,” Wahlberg said. “I think I was in such a sweet spot when the first ‘Jurassic Park’ was made, or when ‘The Perfect Storm’ came out. There were those 100-foot waves that you saw in the trailers. Those were cutting-edge moments in technology with computer-generated imagery. I think it’s hard to pull that off now. So I’m not really passionate about effects-driven movies per se, as opposed to the actual storytelling.”
When asked by TechCrunch Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos if he had ever visited the CAA Vault, the Creative Artists Agency facility that allows actors to use scanning technology to capture their bodies, faces, movements and voices to create AI replicas, Wahlberg said he had not, but was open to the idea.
“I’m interested because in the future, I think it would be great if my children and grandchildren could be in charge of my likeness and image and hopefully appear in a good movie,” Wahlberg said. “It will be interesting to see how things go.”
He even said he wouldn’t object if the upcoming animated series “Ted” was a caricatured AI version of himself that lasted for decades.
“I think it would be cool if I couldn’t do it anymore or it didn’t exist anymore. If it can continue and people want to see it, I think it’s going to be interesting to see how things turn out,” Wahlberg said. “I think there are some things from your childhood that you still want to exist and be part of your life (…) I don’t disagree with that. I think people are going to have a huge opportunity to see whatever they want to see. And if there’s a real audience that wants it, they should have the right to see what they want to see.”
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