On March 22, the highly anticipated film “Late Night With the Devil” was released to limited theaters. Leading up to its release, reviewers and horror connoisseurs were hyping up the film on social media, rallying people to support the film since it was made with a small budget and wasn't being produced by a large production company.
However, upon the film’s full release, people began to notice something odd about the film’s art in certain scenes. In a few moments throughout the runtime, there are quick buffer screens–similar to the well-known “We’ll Be Right Back” screen. Viewers drew parallels between the art style in the film and the art style generated by many AI apps like ChatGPT.
Quickly, the producers confirmed they did indeed use AI for their artwork, specifically telling Variety that they “experimented with AI for three still images which we edited further and ultimately appear as very brief interstitials in the film.” The response was less than accepting.
Some were in support of the usage, saying, “It’s only for a few frames,” and that it did not take over the film’s overall quality. Others are saying just this small example speaks to a bigger issue of what’s acceptable and not, saying that slowly AI will be used more in films and will eventually fully overtake the industry.
It is obviously no secret that AI is a controversial topic. It is a tool people are realizing is improving every day and is becoming a daunting concern for many professions. It’s not far off to think that soon, AI could be used to replace actors or animators because it is cheaper and can be used much quicker than human labor.
It also speaks to the entire reasoning behind the SAG strike, as people fought for their jobs to not be replaced by AI as they were potentially threatened with lower pay and studios wanting to digitally use “[actors’] voices, likenesses, and performances,” for projects as cited by NBC.
Now, that is a “worst-case scenario” example, but many argue it is just natural progression and it is not unreasonable to jump to that conclusion. My take on it is this: if “Late Night With the Devil” can use AI for just a few minutes of total content in their film, what else is acceptable? Others may see this usage, contemplate what they can get away with in their work and turn in work harder to disguise it.
The directors and producers behind “Late Night With the Devil” were at least respectful enough to admit their fault publicly, but that would not necessarily happen all the time. Other studios and executives see this as a loophole, and will potentially do anything they can to make sure people don’t realize they’re using AI.
This film is a small example of a bigger problem. In an article from MIT Sloan Management Review, one quote perfectly sums up many people’s concerns with AI’s involvement in the industry and, more specifically, how it will permanently affect the future: “Entertainment relies on new ideas, and this technology can’t produce them,” which harkens to the overall quality of modern projects. With the use of AI, directors and studios have a new way to push out movies, focusing on quantity instead of quality and further contributing to the downfall of the industry as it becomes focused on profit rather than a form of art.
“Late Night With the Devil” is just the tip of the iceberg. While this film only includes AI for a few minutes total, we have to think about how long it could be before a full-length film is entirely AI-created. I think we should be cautious when approaching “Late Night With the Devil,” as even though it’s a creative and individual film, we should still hold the cast and crew accountable for allowing themselves to choose AI over real, human artists.
Mia Ashby is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tell Mia by emailing her at ma237419@ohio.edu.
