Jodie Foster says Brad Pitt’s F1 felt like “an AI-made movie” written by a machine
Making the aside during an ideas festival, the Oscar-winning actress implied that it would soon become difficult to distinguish polished, formulaic movies from AI.
Beverly Center in Los Angeles, CA on Friday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times/Getty Images.
- Jodie Foster called F1 so formulaic it could have been made by AI, sparking debate about whether algorithmic filmmaking is already here.
- Foster sees AI in Hollywood as inevitable and not wholly negative, pointing to her own use of it in a recent French film.
- Unions are the key battleground, with Foster arguing they must step in to ensure actors and crew are fairly compensated as AI takes hold.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Jodie Foster has suggested Brad Pitt’s hit racing drama F1 feels so structurally familiar that it could have been made by AI, using the film as a springboard to discuss how the technology is already disrupting Hollywood.
Foster brought up the Apple-produced F1 movie this week as an example of a film that seems like it could have been made by AI.
Stay updated with our latest stories and follow us on social media
Be the first to discover new stories, ideas, and updates from our team.
The action-packed sports drama about a retired 1990s racing prodigy (Brad Pitt) who returns to the track to save a struggling underdog team has grossed $634 million worldwide so far, despite some critics dismissing it as formulaic.
More from Cybernews
Sainsbury’s installs more facial rec tech in stores: Should shoppers be worried?
"Phantom squatting” uses AI hallucinated domains for cyber attacks
What they’re doing to gamers is a robbery in broad daylight
Irish parliament expands Microsoft use, despite the EU’s efforts to ditch it
Can government AI actually scrub UAP footage from the internet?
The EU and Apple CEO Tim Cook held "constructive" talks after their Siri AI dispute in Europe
Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival earlier this week, during a session titled “Who Owns The Future Of Hollywood?” The Silence of the Lambs and Contact actress was asked by Snapchat boss Michael Lynton whether AI could replace a writer or actor.
Foster, who has also directed several movies, including Little Man Tate, replied that deepfake technology already exists in filmmaking (in biopics, for instance, to reduce or increase the age of characters on screen).
The actress and director then began to talk about “movies that are already out there… like F1.”
As reported in Variety, Foster said: “I don’t say this disparagingly – how could I? This movie went on to make millions of dollars.”
“But I look at a movie like F1, and I’m like, F1 was made by AI. Wasn’t it? I mean, the structure was exactly the structure that you would learn in school.
“The actors say the lines exactly the way it would be written if a computer was writing exactly what would be the right thing for that time.”
“The actors say the lines exactly the way it would be written if a computer was writing exactly what would be the right thing for that time.”Jodie Foster on Apple's F1 movie
While Foster’s comments are speculation – there is no evidence that the Apple-produced film was written and produced by AI – the actress added that the use of technology for this type of movie was not necessarily a bad thing in Hollywood.
“...they were able to dominate the technology to make something big and beautiful and potentially where a lot of the information comes from other places.”
Her sentiments are reflected in a New York Times review of the film, which called it "An enjoyably arranged collection of all the visual attractions and narrative clichés that money can buy... the story is as formulaic as its title subject."
AI: a “giant step forward” for Hollywood
“AI is one more giant step forward into changing the industry,” Foster continued, after detailing the changes to the movie business brought by CGI and digital technology.
Foster also mentioned a French film she’d recently worked on, A Private Life, which used AI to generate surreal images in a dream sequence.
Where this leaves workers – behind as well as in front of the camera – is a moot point and one that has already seen unions representing creative talent call for strike action. Foster said that she hoped unions would come to the rescue and protect actors’ rights.
“We’re getting rid of a lot of jobs, and hopefully, things like unions will be able to come in and say, you can use my actor 20 times, but you’re going to pay him 20 times. And I think that’s fair.”
“We’re getting rid of a lot of jobs, and hopefully, things like unions will be able to come in and say, you can use my actor 20 times, but you’re going to pay him 20 times. And I think that’s fair.”Jodie Foster on post-AI pay structures in Hollywood
A24’s deal with Google DeepMind
Hollywood studios, meanwhile, are also experimenting with AI models. Last month, A24 Labs – the studio behind Marty Supreme and Backrooms – signed a multi-year research and development partnership with Google DeepMind, backed by a $75 million investment.
Strong password generator
The deal, channeled through the studio’s technology startup A24 Labs, aims to build specialized, behind-the-scenes filmmaking workflows, such as AI-generated storyboards and concept art.
The leadership at A24 went to great pains to say that the AI was being targeted for post-production/workflows – VFX cleanup, sound editing, and storyboarding, rather than generating entirely prompted films.
Yet many of these technical roles demand the same craft, creativity and talent as the actors, writers and musicians now fighting for the future of their professions.