'Lord of the Rings' Director Peter Jackson Says AI Is 'Just a Special Effect'

By Jason Nelson

Artificial intelligence took center stage at this year’s Cannes Film Festival as filmmakers and actors debated how the technology will reshape performance-capture acting, digital likeness protections, and filmmaking in Hollywood.

Speaking at a Cannes masterclass after receiving an honorary Palme d’Or award, “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy director Peter Jackson defended the use of AI in filmmaking and warned that fears surrounding the technology could overshadow human performances, according to a report by Variety.

“To me, it’s just a special effect,” Jackson said. “It’s no different from other special effects.”

Jackson said concerns about AI should focus less on the technology itself and more on how studios and companies use actors’ likenesses. He said digital recreations become problematic when performers lose control over their image or identity.

“If you’re doing an AI duplicate of somebody, like Indiana Jones or anyone else—as long as you’ve licensed the rights off the person who you’re showing, I don’t see the issue,” Jackson said. He added that the problem is “when people’s likenesses get stolen and usurped.”

Jackson also suggested the current climate around AI may make it harder for performance-capture actors to receive recognition from award bodies.

“Which is a bit unfair, especially in the Andy Serkis case where it’s not an AI-generated performance, it’s a human-generated performance 100% of the way,” Jackson said.

Jackson’s comments come as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and others tighten rules around AI in filmmaking. Earlier this month, the Academy announced that it is barring AI-generated performances and screenplays from Oscar eligibility unless human actors and writers remain at the center of the work.

Also at Cannes, actress Demi Moore said Hollywood needs to adapt to AI instead of trying to block its growth across the entertainment industry.

“AI is here. And so to fight it is to fight something that is a battle that we will lose,” she said. “So to find ways in which we can work with it I think is a more valuable path to take.”

Moore added that Hollywood is “probably not” doing enough to protect itself from AI-related risks. Still, she argued that the technology cannot replace the human side of artistic expression.

“The truth is there really isn’t anything to fear, because what it can never replace is what true art comes from,” Moore said. “It comes from the soul.”

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