Viral video tries to prove AI is the death of Hollywood... and fails miserably

AI disciples will often throw around claims that artificial intelligence marks the death of the entertainment industry. When a prompt can produce 'high-quality' video content, is there even any need for a whole production crew to produce a blockbuster movie? Well yes, and here's why.

Attempting to prove why "it's over for Hollywood," one confident X user shared an AI-generated short emulating New York City in 1993, and while many praised the 'authentic' look, others soon noticed the hallmarks of AI slop. The technology may be getting more refined, but it seems we've got a ways to go before we can shake the notion that AI filmmaking is a gimmick.

"If this is the level of AI creations, then it's over for Hollywood and big production houses," claimed X user @john_my07, sharing an AI-generated video of early 90s NYC emulating the look of an HD camera. With warm, hazy colour grading and ambient city humdrum, it almost feels authentic, but there's an undeniable roboticness that gives it that soulless AI feel.

The usual suspects are present, of course. Extra fingers and gibberish signage are key markers of AI slop. Pedestrians walk in an orderly hive, doppelgängers walk side by side, and bodies merge straight into moving traffic, but the worst offence has to be the dual Empire State Buildings. "Not the Empire State Trade Centre," one commenter responded. "Every single one of these videos is always like 'look what AI can do!' And it’s just derivative of a movie a human being made," another scathingly added.

While it's easy to get swept up in AI existentialism when we see the technology evolving so rapidly with seemingly no way to counter it, it's worth remembering that a large majority still crave analogue creativity. With AI creating a divide among creatives across the industry, design instinct and experience matter more than ever. Despite the torrents of slop, human creativity is still invaluable and vital to the creative sphere.