James Cameron’s films often stay at the forefront of technology in the field of visual effects – notably Avatar, thanks to motion capture that gives life to the Na’vi.
However, Cameron himself is not a fan of generative artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, tied to the upcoming release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, the director acknowledged that motion capture may seem similar to generative AI. Yet, in his words, it is “the opposite.”
In the CBS segment, it shows how the actors from Avatar perform their underwater scenes in a 250,000-gallon tank.
«Over the years there has been the impression that they’re doing something odd with computers and replace actors. When you actually look closely and see what we’re doing, it’s a celebration of the moment between the actor and the director.»
– James Cameron
«Go to the other end of the spectrum, and you’ll see generative artificial intelligence, where a character can be invented, an actor conjured, a performance created from scratch via a text prompt. No, that’s horrifying… That’s exactly not what we do.»
– James Cameron
Cameron’s View on the Future of Film and AI
Cameron emphasizes that the opposite side of technology is fundamentally important: using tools to support the creative process rather than replacing actors’ work. According to him, motion capture and computer work can collaborate to create deeper scenes, but the very approach of generative AI, which can create characters or performances from a text prompt, evokes a sense of horror and an unwanted risk for film production.
As the release of new Avatar installments approaches, the director focuses on balancing human talent and innovations, stressing that art should remain a matter for people. These public statements by Cameron underscore that the ethics of using cutting-edge technologies in cinema are becoming no less important than the visual splendor itself.