Useful But Soulless: Generative AI and Its Place in Filmmaking
AI-generated video is an impressive piece of technology. Today’s AI video tools let one person create whole scenes in just a few hours. It is like digital magic: turning words and reference images into moving pictures on a screen.
Many platforms are now working on ways to use these AI models more effectively. They are developing tools that help keep characters looking the same, make lighting more consistent, and ensure that objects and people stay in the right places. Right now, it is still fairly easy to spot the common signs of AI-generated video. But this field is changing quickly, and the technology will have improved a lot even by the time this article is published.
Companies keep improving their models so they can better understand what people ask for and create results that look more believable. But looking real and being real are two different things. This difference will shape the future of filmmaking.
Everyone sees the world through their own experiences. So it is no surprise that some people see AI video as just a copy of reality, while others think it looks just like the real thing. In advertising and commercial filmmaking, what brands choose to show as real will matter more than ever. That choice belongs to the creative teams and producers.
These tools will become so good that they will meet most advertising needs.
This is worrying for filmmakers who love their craft, but it is also exciting for marketing teams that need to watch their budgets. Demand for basic production work will fall, and many brands will decide that AI-generated content is good enough, or perhaps even great, for their projects.
I believe commercial filmmakers have two ways forward:
Use these tools to improve traditional filmmaking processes, lower costs, and get work done more efficiently.
Focus on the things that make something real.
This raises an interesting question: What makes something real? In my view, the answer is not very complicated.
It is us.
Every person has unique talents and a special role to play. This is especially clear in film production. Visionary directors, skilled camera teams, organized producers, and everyone else working on set bring their own human touch to a project. The people in front of the camera matter, too. A director who helps an actor express a feeling that creates a beautiful moment or inspires an audience to take action is what makes commercial filmmaking truly human.
If you agree that creating emotions is important for selling an idea on screen, you probably agree that the eyes are one of the most powerful parts of filmmaking. The eyes are a window to the soul. They help show what we can feel and touch, what we find beautiful, and what is real. Directors use a person's gaze to shape what happens between characters on screen. Directors of photography (DPs) use lighting to show emotion. And what is emotion, if not a way to express the soul? AI-generated footage cannot show these special human qualities.
Will AI-generated commercials and other content become common? Most definitely. At some point, ordinary people will widely accept it as “good enough.”
Will you see a soul in the eyes of an AI-generated person? Absolutely not.
People will use these models anyway. Advertisers will create commercials by writing prompts, audiences will watch them, advertisers will praise them, and people will win awards for them. The question will not be what we can generate, but what is worth generating.
So the real question companies need to ask themselves now is this: Does your brand have enough meaning to have a soul behind it?