Drive director sees AI as only good for “empty content”

Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn shares his thoughts on artificial intelligence after a brief stint exploring ChatGPT. In the end, he isn’t too impressed and only sees AI as a way to produce “empty content.”

Speaking with IndieWire, Refn explored using ChatGPT, the most notable AI out there, and found that he couldn’t make meaningful stories using the AI without it hitting a roadblock, telling him to seek professional help, or being unable to comment on certain matters. These sorts of hurdles happen when you ask it questions that tie to a controversial or taboo topic, something filmmakers will often want to explore, but the use of AI makes it harder to get right.

He believed he’d use it creatively but only ended up disagreeing with it, though he doesn’t seem to regret trying it. He also believes AI should be viewed as a tool rather than a replacement for creatives like writers or actors.

“Technology has helped and has expanded and given opportunities. So I look more at AI as a tool. But obviously, if you are using it as a substitute because what you create can be so equally multiplied, then that’s a very dangerous factor. But it also comes back to why are we creating content, and why is this content so easy to duplicate?”

Refn expressed how AI creates highly marketable content that says nothing but appeals to everybody. It’s also on the consumer to say yes or no to these tactics and likened it to the rise of Amazon vs local businesses.

His biggest takeaway is to be yourself and that we should cherish and support that.