Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, believes AI is good for Hollywood and won’t hurt the industry as much as critics of the technology fear.
“I think people really care about other people,” Altman said at Saturday’s Breakthrough Awards ceremony when I asked him about the industry’s concerns that AI would lead to layoffs and less creativity. “I think people really care about the humans behind the stories and the art and the creative work that’s so important. So my gut feeling is that it’s going to go in the opposite direction and people will care more about humans and the human creators in the future, not less.”
Altman said he doesn’t speak to Hollywood insiders every day, but not “often.”
“I often hear from creators, “I have these new ideas. I want to input them into the next model. I want to make these things possible,” he says.
In late March, Altman informed Disney’s new CEO Josh D’Amaro that he would shut down the Sora video generation platform before Disney could launch characters within the system.
Altman found this “terrible,” but said in an interview on iHeartPodcasts’ “Mostly Human” that Disney and OpenAI are looking to continue working together. In the wake of Sola’s closure, Disney halted a $1 billion investment in an AI company.
On Saturday, Altman declined to share his thoughts on the idea of the late Val Kilmer being brought back to life by AI to star in the new movie “As Deep as the Grave.” “I don’t think I’m the best person to answer that question,” he said. “Maybe I don’t have the depth of insight that the people in this room can’t say anything better about it.”
Regarding calls for more regulation around AI, Altman said, “I think some regulation is going to be important. Getting the regulation right is obviously very important.”
