Say hello to Hollywood's newest film star: a robot
This is no act. Image: REUTERS/Jason Lee
Uncanny Hollywood. In 1998, director Tony Kaye released “American History X,” an unsettling drama focused on neo-Nazis. His next project could leave viewers just as uneasy, but for a different reason: because of its star, an artificially intelligent robot.
Can bots have comedic timing? On Wednesday, Deadline published a report revealing that Kaye plans to cast a robot as the lead in “2nd Born,” a sequel to the 2018 indie comedy “1st Born.”
The report doesn’t include many specifics on the robot star, other than that it will learn various acting methods and techniques prior to filming. However, Kaye hopes the performance will be enough to earn the bot recognition from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), meaning it could conceivably go up against human actors come awards season.
A daring debut. This isn’t the first example of a robot infiltrating the film industry. Bots are already writing scripts, performing stunts, and creating mind-bending visual effects. It was really only a matter of time before a robot star stepped in front of the camera.
Granted, the project could be a disaster — the performance could end up being a bit *robotic* — but Kaye has never really shied away from risks. So there’s a good chance his direction will be enough to breathe life into his lifeless star’s debut performance.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Stay up to date:
Artificial Intelligence
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Emerging TechnologiesSee all
Devanand Ramiah
December 6, 2024