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Steven Soderbergh says he is “not afraid” of AI

Mon 12 June 2023 19:41, UK

The past few months have seen a rise in artificial intelligence working its way into the world of film and television. Although many directors have expressed their concerns with the intelligence making news, director Steven Soderbergh is not nearly as concerned.

Soderbergh is best known for his work on the Ocean’s series of the early 2000s, working alongside actors such as Matt Damon and George Clooney. From there, he has also worked on acclaimed dramas such as The Informant before going into another franchise with the Magik Mike series.

When asked about his take on AI, Soderbergh doesn’t think that it will replace human writers anytime soon, telling Variety: “It has no life experience. It’s never been hungover or scared. It’s never felt insecure because somebody it went to school with has become incredibly successful. As of today, it’s not keeping me up at night”.

This comes after Succession star Jeremy Strong said that he wasn’t confident in AI creating any episode of the highly acclaimed TV drama. Black Mirror writer Charlie Brooker also doesn’t feel any competition with AI, saying that a ChatGPT episode of his series was absolutely terrible.

Rather than seeing it as a dangerous element of writing, Soderbergh prefers to see the technology as something different for the future, continuing, “I’m not afraid of it. It’s just another tool. If it helps you finish a first draft of a script, great. But can it finish that thing and make it great on its own? Absolutely not”.

Outside of finishing off Soderbergh’s final instalment in the Magik Mike franchise this year, he is also underway on a miniseries for MAX entitled Full Circle, which is set to premiere its first episodes on July 13th, 2023.

See the trailer below.