𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗲

I have never been particularly supportive of fully AI generated films.

That does not mean I am against AI. Far from it. I believe it can be an extraordinary support tool when it helps human beings research, prepare, experiment and create.

But an entirely AI generated film? I have always thought: I am simply not the audience for that. Partly because I do not want human performance to disappear from our screens, and partly because I do not want actors’ work replaced.

Then Paul Schrader entered the conversation.

Schrader is one of our most remarkable storytellers. He wrote Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, and directed American Gigolo and First Reformed. One of my ten favourite films, and quite possibly my number one, is his 1990 film The Comfort of Strangers.

Now he intends to make Three Guns at Dawn using entirely AI generated human characters instead of actors. He has also said of the jobs AI may remove: “Those jobs are gone, babe.”

I strongly disagree with him on that. Progress should not require us to shrug while human artists and craftspeople are pushed aside. A remarkable filmmaker does not get a free pass simply because I admire his work.

But he has still opened a debate in my mind.

If a storyteller of Schrader’s calibre uses AI to tell a story that could not otherwise be made, do I refuse to watch it on principle? Or do I watch and judge whether the human imagination behind the technology still reaches me?

I know where I stand on protecting actors and human performance. That has not changed. But for the first time, I am questioning whether I can dismiss every AI generated film without seeing what a great human storyteller does with the medium.

We have choices to make, both as artists and as audiences.

What do you think? Would you watch it?

Why is he forced to use AI

Article URL:

https://theplaylist.net/paul-schrader-ai-black-actors-three-guns-at-dawn-20260906/

#TheActorsCopilot #ActorsWithTheEdge #PaulSchrader #HumanPerformance #AIFilmmaking

4 comments

𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗲