Shawn Levy Is Sticking His Neck Out for AI, Too

The past week has seen both Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock take controversial stances on AI. The backlash to Reese was so swift and loud that she already had to address it. Wading into these waters will clearly not go great, and yet, Shawn Levy dove right in.

Levy is on a bit of a hot streak thanks to the bajillion dollar success of Deadpool & Wolverine followed by the final season of Stranger Things. Next up is the daunting task of delivering a new Star Wars movie that doesn’t rely on just punting Baby Yoda into theaters. Starfighter is set to hit theaters in 2027, but don’t worry, Levy hasn’t used AI on that movie. Kinda.

“To date, I’ve not incorporated AI in any meaningful way in any phase of my storytelling process, but I have no doubt that in the course of my career we will see its integration,” Levy told Variety about the editing process for the Ryan Gosling film.

“In any meaningful way.” Wait, what does that mean?

Setting aside those wiggle words, Levy does buy into the inevitability of AI that’s been a theme lately, but unlike Witherspoon and Bullock, he makes it a point to emphasize the need for regulations:

“To the point that many smarter people than I have made, it’s about integrating these technologies responsibly and with still the primacy of the creative voice and not a potential replacement for that voice because I think that what you get from creative voice and vision is singular and irreplicable, but if we can use these emerging AI capacities to support storytelling in still a kind of creative and human first workflow then I think it’s something to embrace, not fear.”

Regulation is key, Levy said. “I spend a part of everyday trying to increase my fluency around the regulatory options surrounding [AI],” he said. “I think it’s going to be essential, but I think to hide our heads in the sand and pretend that it’s not going to be not just an emergent but an essential part of our lives, not just filmmaking lives, [but] lives lives, I think that would be naive and foolish.”

I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but Shawn Levy is right. And I say that as someone who thinks GenAI is the devil and writing without human thought behind it is anathema. AI tools for VFX have been a thing before it became a tech bubble that might tank the whole economy. But to Levy’s point, there needs to be meaningful regulations to make sure artists’ work isn’t being stolen just to save a buck.

Of course, the elephant in the room is that Disney just had a bloodbath over at the visual department for Marvel, so the timing here is not great. That said, like all things online, the narrative doesn’t match reality. No, Disney is not trying to replace these people with AI. How do I know? The fired employees have said as much.

Via Polygon:

A third former member of the visual development team, who also wished to remain anonymous, insists the move has less to do with technology than the way Disney is thinking about full-time labor versus contractor work.

“I can tell you it is not because of AI because they are planning on rehiring but on a freelance basis,” they say.

Here’s what happened on top of an industry-wide belt-tightening because our toddler of a president is tanking the economy: So, remember how everyone said the problem with Marvel is that it over-extended itself with Disney+ series and too many films? Well, this is what happens when it pulls back on that front and every movie stops making a billion dollars.

I don’t want to make light of people being laid off. I got hit in the gut almost two years to the day. It sucks hard. Being moved from full-time to freelance is also a fun little kick in the teeth, but these are things that have been happening way before the AI bogeyman came along. It is a technology some folks will unfortunately have to grapple with in the workplace, but not as pressingly as some Hollywood players would have you believe.

However, it is very weird that this past week has suddenly produced of spat of takes saying, “Hey, everybody get on board with AI or else!” It feels way too coincidental to be organic, so no one is wrong for raising an eyebrow.