<p>Writer and creative director (‘Tumbbad’ ), director (‘Ship of Theseus’) and systems thinker Anand Gandhi, in a conversation with Showtime, answers some questions about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it can impact filmmaking in the long run. He also talks about Mayaverse, which he describes as “a mythology for the 21st century”.</p>.<p><strong>Excerpts:</strong></p>.<p><strong>Your thoughts on AI?</strong></p>.<p>AI’s super intelligence surpasses 99% of humanity’s. The one percent gap right now is in specialisation. For example, AI can make music better than me, and paint better than me, but it cannot write films better than me. It’s not yet at a point where it can make music better than A R Rahman. But this gap is filling quickly. </p>.<p>Now, whether that’s good or bad is the oldest question in the book — whether a murderer or a surgeon will use the knife. AI remains a tool despite its intelligence. It’s still dependent on humans to provide it with energy, context, intention and direction. </p>.<p>It’s still within our purview to decide how much autonomy we grant it and depend on it. It can be used for human wellness, equity, liberty, and human and systemic empathy. If we continue using it for these reasons, then it’s good. But if it is implemented towards hijacking human beliefs and behaviours for short-term benefits, it would be the most devastating thing. </p>.<p><strong>How do we bring in democracy here?</strong></p>.<p>Firstly, frameworks will have to remain within democratic scrutiny. It means that it’s almost necessary for all major AI frameworks that exist in the world to remain transparent and open to public scrutiny. Civic institutions must develop and control AI systems that prioritise societal benefits over short-term profits, so that long-term profits of societal benefits can be achieved.</p>.<p>AI systems need to have open source systems that can counterpoint through the systemic credibility of images, videos and materials that are used to inform our beliefs and behaviours. And remember these behaviours are vulnerable and susceptible to any kind of material culture. </p>.<p><strong>What are some potential challenges?</strong></p>.<p>So if we see photographs and videos of a politician or a film star, we’re most likely to believe it because for years, our minds have been trained to believe what we see. Now, suddenly we have this incredibly smart machine that can create anything. There will be two main challenges. We are going to be easily manipulated into believing all kinds of things that will impact our voting, political and social behaviours. And secondly, we’re going to become cynical because of persuasion, misinformation and disinformation. People will stop believing in everything. </p>.<p><strong>Will AI alter filmmaking?</strong></p>.<p>There’s no doubt about it. AI is already rapidly encroaching on domains once thought to be an exclusive territory of human creativity. But we forget that a large part of our films are generated. It is human intelligence that is generating it, but it’s still generative — formulaic and derivative. All of this will be replaced. Routine creativity will be completely replaced. It can be achieved with a click of a button. Human creators in these areas will likely become obsolete. AI can churn out endless short-form content for a lesser price.</p>.<p>AI also has a superhuman edge in creating stimuli. It will create perfect content tailored to individual differences and psychological triggers, and understand what the viewer likes — fast racing or substance-full moments or tension. AI’s capacity for pattern recognition will allow it to produce 100 compelling films without understanding why it is compelling. Hence, there are a lot of areas where AI will be deployed in motion picture creation. </p>.<p>The question now is, what can humans offer that AI cannot? There are a couple of areas like intuition and rule-breaking. Humans are excellent at time-shifting and doing the unexpected. Humans also have a shared lived experience. The reason we go to stories is for simulation. They make us feel happy, sad, angry or tense without having to be in those situations. Despite AI’s ability to replicate all of that, humans will still go to other humans to learn lived experiences. So human creators will continue having some value. </p>.<p>When I was making ‘Tumbbad’, I had Rahi (the director) coming in with a bunch of ideas. Pankaj (the cinematographer) was giving me a couple of ideas about how light moves. And my job was to integrate and synthesise. Of course, I had my own ideas, intentions, world views, philosophy and direction of what I wanted audiences to take back from each moment, but often I’m also the synthesiser. So everyone in the film becomes a co-author. </p>.<p>That’s something that continues to exist with AI as well. AI can be seen as one of the many co-authors that would participate in the making of a film.</p>.<p><strong>In an old interview, you mentioned ‘Mayaverse’ intends to create history for the 21st century. What does that mean? What is Mayaverse?</strong></p>.<p>The Mayaverse is a narrative universe I’ve been working on with Zain, my co-creator. We’re creating a new mythology. The difference between a story and mythology is that mythology is a living breathing thing. It’s a synthesis, a meeting place where multiple stories interact with each other.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Over the last few years, we’ve been creating a mythology for our times. Mythologies of the past share wisdom and insights that remain relevant for thousands of years. But there are a lot of challenges and questions that mythologies of the past did not have to encounter the way we do. Modern questions need modern answers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For ‘Mayaverse’, we have utilised every medium at our disposal — games, TV shows, films, graphic novels, board games. Right now I’m working on a novel which will come out in March. The working title of the book is ‘Maya: The Seed Takes Route’.</p>
<p>Writer and creative director (‘Tumbbad’ ), director (‘Ship of Theseus’) and systems thinker Anand Gandhi, in a conversation with Showtime, answers some questions about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it can impact filmmaking in the long run. He also talks about Mayaverse, which he describes as “a mythology for the 21st century”.</p>.<p><strong>Excerpts:</strong></p>.<p><strong>Your thoughts on AI?</strong></p>.<p>AI’s super intelligence surpasses 99% of humanity’s. The one percent gap right now is in specialisation. For example, AI can make music better than me, and paint better than me, but it cannot write films better than me. It’s not yet at a point where it can make music better than A R Rahman. But this gap is filling quickly. </p>.<p>Now, whether that’s good or bad is the oldest question in the book — whether a murderer or a surgeon will use the knife. AI remains a tool despite its intelligence. It’s still dependent on humans to provide it with energy, context, intention and direction. </p>.<p>It’s still within our purview to decide how much autonomy we grant it and depend on it. It can be used for human wellness, equity, liberty, and human and systemic empathy. If we continue using it for these reasons, then it’s good. But if it is implemented towards hijacking human beliefs and behaviours for short-term benefits, it would be the most devastating thing. </p>.<p><strong>How do we bring in democracy here?</strong></p>.<p>Firstly, frameworks will have to remain within democratic scrutiny. It means that it’s almost necessary for all major AI frameworks that exist in the world to remain transparent and open to public scrutiny. Civic institutions must develop and control AI systems that prioritise societal benefits over short-term profits, so that long-term profits of societal benefits can be achieved.</p>.<p>AI systems need to have open source systems that can counterpoint through the systemic credibility of images, videos and materials that are used to inform our beliefs and behaviours. And remember these behaviours are vulnerable and susceptible to any kind of material culture. </p>.<p><strong>What are some potential challenges?</strong></p>.<p>So if we see photographs and videos of a politician or a film star, we’re most likely to believe it because for years, our minds have been trained to believe what we see. Now, suddenly we have this incredibly smart machine that can create anything. There will be two main challenges. We are going to be easily manipulated into believing all kinds of things that will impact our voting, political and social behaviours. And secondly, we’re going to become cynical because of persuasion, misinformation and disinformation. People will stop believing in everything. </p>.<p><strong>Will AI alter filmmaking?</strong></p>.<p>There’s no doubt about it. AI is already rapidly encroaching on domains once thought to be an exclusive territory of human creativity. But we forget that a large part of our films are generated. It is human intelligence that is generating it, but it’s still generative — formulaic and derivative. All of this will be replaced. Routine creativity will be completely replaced. It can be achieved with a click of a button. Human creators in these areas will likely become obsolete. AI can churn out endless short-form content for a lesser price.</p>.<p>AI also has a superhuman edge in creating stimuli. It will create perfect content tailored to individual differences and psychological triggers, and understand what the viewer likes — fast racing or substance-full moments or tension. AI’s capacity for pattern recognition will allow it to produce 100 compelling films without understanding why it is compelling. Hence, there are a lot of areas where AI will be deployed in motion picture creation. </p>.<p>The question now is, what can humans offer that AI cannot? There are a couple of areas like intuition and rule-breaking. Humans are excellent at time-shifting and doing the unexpected. Humans also have a shared lived experience. The reason we go to stories is for simulation. They make us feel happy, sad, angry or tense without having to be in those situations. Despite AI’s ability to replicate all of that, humans will still go to other humans to learn lived experiences. So human creators will continue having some value. </p>.<p>When I was making ‘Tumbbad’, I had Rahi (the director) coming in with a bunch of ideas. Pankaj (the cinematographer) was giving me a couple of ideas about how light moves. And my job was to integrate and synthesise. Of course, I had my own ideas, intentions, world views, philosophy and direction of what I wanted audiences to take back from each moment, but often I’m also the synthesiser. So everyone in the film becomes a co-author. </p>.<p>That’s something that continues to exist with AI as well. AI can be seen as one of the many co-authors that would participate in the making of a film.</p>.<p><strong>In an old interview, you mentioned ‘Mayaverse’ intends to create history for the 21st century. What does that mean? What is Mayaverse?</strong></p>.<p>The Mayaverse is a narrative universe I’ve been working on with Zain, my co-creator. We’re creating a new mythology. The difference between a story and mythology is that mythology is a living breathing thing. It’s a synthesis, a meeting place where multiple stories interact with each other.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Over the last few years, we’ve been creating a mythology for our times. Mythologies of the past share wisdom and insights that remain relevant for thousands of years. But there are a lot of challenges and questions that mythologies of the past did not have to encounter the way we do. Modern questions need modern answers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For ‘Mayaverse’, we have utilised every medium at our disposal — games, TV shows, films, graphic novels, board games. Right now I’m working on a novel which will come out in March. The working title of the book is ‘Maya: The Seed Takes Route’.</p>