SXSW Attendees Express Disapproval of AI
At SXSW screenings, audiences loudly booed videos featuring AI proponents, highlighting the growing tension between different attitudes toward AI in the entertainment industry.
The South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, has been a platform for discussions about technology advancement and how it shapes entertainment, and this year the future of artificial intelligence (AI) was a hot topic. However, not all attendees are thrilled with the idea of promoting AI. Film and TV fans, many of whom are likely writers and actors who spent much of 2023 on the picket line trying to reign in the potentially destructive power of AI, made their discontent loud and clear during screenings of world premieres, including “The Fall Guy” and “Immaculate,” at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.
The festival’s editors cut daily sizzle reels with quick turn-around, which highlight previous panels, premieres, and other events, focused on the wide variety of keynotes and panelists. When the reels, played before screenings, feature previous talks about AI audiences at the Paramount decided to boo the video loudly and frequently, especially at the segment where OpenAI’s VP of consumer product and head of ChatGPT, Peter Deng, stated, “I actually think that AI fundamentally makes us more human.”
Signal Fire’s consumer VC and former TechCrunch editor, Josh Constine, also drew jeers when he stated, “SXSW has always been the digital culture makers, and I think if you look out into this room, you can see that AI is a culture.” Other speakers featured in the video, such as futurist Amy Webb and author Sandy Carter, also promoted the importance of embracing AI in business.
The groans grew particularly loud for Magic Leap’s founder Rony Abovitz, who advised, “Be one of those people who leverages AI, don't be run over by it.”
The future of AI is clearly on everyone’s mind. Even “Everything Everywhere All at Once” filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert expressed their fear at the impact AI may have on storytelling.
As artificial intelligence continues to improve, so do its practical applications and the threat that it might replace tasks previously handled by humans. While the notion that AI is "a culture" or that it “fundamentally makes us more human" was met with strong opposition from the SXSW crowd, the debate surrounding AI's role in the entertainment industry and beyond is far from over. As the technology inevitably continues to advance, it remains to be seen how the industry will adapt and address the concerns raised by those who feel threatened by its emergence.