Original title: Family denies that it will make a digital comeback (quote)
Why doesn’t Bruce Willis love AI to change faces? (theme)
Beijing Youth DailyReporter Xiao Yang
Recently, it is reported that Bruce Willis, who suffers from aphasia, is expected to continue to gallop in the film industry in the form of AI face-changing. His agent said that Bruce has already sold his digital image to a technology company. Realize the “rebirth” on the screen through digital technology – make your own digital image through AI technology, and transplant the digital character image into the virtual image. That sounded like a good thing, but the Bruce family denied the news in a statement released later.
Why doesn’t Bruce Willis love AI to change faces? It turns out that there are still many controversies in AI technology in the film and television industry, and there are even many ethical and legal obstacles to overcome.
Digital face swaps are favored in the film industry
In the digital age, it is not uncommon to create digital images through AI, and the technology is improving all the time. The most well-known is “Speed and Passion 7” in 2015. Due to the unexpected death of actor Paul Walker during the shooting process, in order to ensure the integrity of the plot, the production team used face-changing technology to let Paul Walker appear on the screen to bid farewell to the audience. When the song “See you again” sounded, Brian O’Conner, played by Paul Walker, and Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, looked at each other and smiled, heading for two different paths. A classic in my heart. In order to achieve this effect, the film “Fast and Furious 7” studio hired the best digital effects studio, collected 350 CG shots of Paul Walker and paired them with his own brother, using brother doubles and motion capture and Digital synthesis, leaving the “Forever Paul” image for fans on the screen.
At present, many film and television dramas have used AI to change faces to improve the expression space of movies. For example, you can use AI face-changing technology and actor avatars to complete dangerous or difficult actions-in the movie “Green Book”, the chic scene of the star playing the piano is done by the avatar pianist and the AI changing heads; AI makes people The rejuvenation skills are also very good. In “The Irishman” directed by Martin Old in 2019, the three acting schools of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci are all in their 70s, but through AI Technology, they miraculously returned to their green years and staged a shocking legend.
Pablo Herman, Visual Effects Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, believes that AI and machine learning are becoming part of everything that is done in film VFX. There is no doubt that the film industry has entered the era of AI. In recent years, there has been more and more exploration of AI in film and television. “Digital creation” uses various modern means such as digital modeling, performance capture, CG rendering, picture synthesis, and even Make characters that do not exist come to life in front of the audience, or make the actor’s image more in line with the design of the script, such as the gorilla image in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and Rosa in “Alita Battle Angel”. achieved through this technology.
Digital face swaps are not a panacea
At the same time, there are many controversies and obstacles brought by AI’s encroachment on the human art world. For example, although AI can make people’s faces younger, it can’t make their demeanor and posture rejuvenate-in “The Irishman”, some viewers pointed out that the “young” Al Pacino got up from the sofa At that time, the lack of mental strength is still an old man.
Moreover, the audience is not so fond of the visual wonders caused by AI. The film “Gemini Man” spent 138 million US dollars to realize the full digitalization of the cloned version of the real star through AI, and the young version of Will Smith was generated by digital calculation. , which created the 50-year-old Will Smith and the 23-year-old self on the screen to play each other on the screen. However, due to the lack of novelty and depth of the story, the film’s reputation and box office have declined, and the digital face change has become a gimmick, instead of opening a new world for the film industry, but causing a huge increase in costs. After all, buying a ticket to see a digital human acting will make many viewers feel uncomfortable, because they will feel that it takes away the charm of a live performance, and the creativity of art cannot be imitated by a machine.
In addition, the boundaries of AI also need to be constantly defined and measured. For example, an actor who uses makeup and props to play a real person who has passed away is likely to have a better effect than the face created by AI, because when people watch a movie, the standard of appreciation is not “like”, but the sense of soul remodeling. Even some industry insiders believe that AI’s face-changing is also a “deception”, which will make some unknowing audiences think that the picture is played by the actor himself.
AI face changing needs more exploration in the film industry
While AI technology is in the ascendant, the outside world has also expressed concern about its abuse. At the end of 2017, a great god with the ID “DeepFakes” (deep forgery) appeared in overseas forums, and released an AI algorithm that uses machine learning to replace video faces. . Because this face-changing technology violated the portrait rights of “Wonder Woman” Gal Gadot, the forum platform under great pressure had to block “deepfake” on the grounds of violating other people’s privacy.
With so much uncertainty surrounding AI face swaps, it’s no wonder that Bruce Willis and his family have been secretive about the news of the digital twin being sold. However, despite his repeated denials, Bruce Willis does have a keen interest in the technology. Previously, he said in a statement that “deepfake” technology was a good opportunity for him to “turn back the clock.” While acknowledging the misuse of technology, Bruce also said, “In Hollywood, it also allows unexpected actors to accomplish unfinished business.”
Are people excited about the broad application prospects of AI technology in the film and television industry, or are they worried that it only preserves the image but hinders more imaginative artistic expression? To find out, we need more exploration.