A romcom movie generated by AI is coming out this summer – and everyone is saying it looks ‘tacky and horrendous’
A ROMCOM is set to hit screens this summer that has been nearly-entirely created by artificial intelligence (AI), in an apparent world-first.
Experts have long speculated that AI will leave no industry unchanged.
But the quality of this AI-generated romcom might actually ease fears that a robot will soon replace you.
Chinese TV manufacturer TCL has dropped a 60-second trailer for its upcoming movie titled “Next Stop Paris” on YouTube.
There is tremendous curiosity around AI… It’s a marketing differentiator.
Chris Regina, TCL Chief Content Officer
TCL used a text-to-video generator called Runway ML and popular image generator Midjourney to produce the trailer.
With plans to grace screens this summer, “Next Stop Paris” is set in the sepia-toned “city of lights” with two face-morphing protagonists and an unclear plot.
As Futurism points out, the AI has produced two main characters that fail to resemble themselves from one scene to the next.
The AI also couldn’t generate an accurate picture of a clock tower, and instead has pasted random Roman numerals on its face.
Artificial Intelligence explained
Here's what you need to know
- Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is a type of computer software
- Typically, a computer will do what you tell it to do
- But artificial intelligence simulates the human mind, and can make its own deductions, inferences or decisions
- A simple computer might let you set an alarm to wake you up
- But an AI system might scan your emails, work out that you’ve got a meeting tomorrow, and then set an alarm and plan a journey for you
- AI tech is often “trained” – which means it observes something (potentially even a human) then learns about a task over time
- For instance, an AI system can be fed thousands of photos of human faces, then generate photos of human faces all on its own
- Some experts have raised concerns that humans will eventually lose control of super-intelligent AI
- But the tech world is still divided over whether or not AI tech will eventually kill us all in a Terminator-style apocalypse
“In life’s journey, sometimes the heart moves too fast, or too slow,” a narrator says over the trailer.
“But if you time it just right, that’s when love arrives.”
As per a Tom’s Hardware report, it’s likely the movie is a marketing stunt rather than a serious release.
It’s won’t be the length of your traditional cinema romcom.
The company has said it’s considering making the film the length of a TV episode.
“It is a first for a trailer and for an entertainment company,” TCL Chief Content Officer Chris Regina told Tom’s Hardware.
“There is tremendous curiosity around AI,” he said.
“It’s a marketing differentiator.”
While the AI characters in their current form will struggle to replace human actors, Regina told Tom’s Hardware that his team was working on “character consistency”.
The script has allegedly been written by a human, and voiced by real actors, according to Tom’s Hardware.
Onlookers have reacted badly to the quality.
“That is disgusting and no one should be supporting movies made by AI,” one person wrote on Reddit.
Another replied, saying: “The faces aren’t even the same scene to scene omg.”
A third person said: “Thanks, I hate it, but now I know some of my writer friends’ jobs are safe(-ish) for now.”
A fourth person added: “This looks absolutely tacky and horrendous.”
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