Companies ‘don’t want to be held responsible for everything an algorithm does’ – Deadline

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Christopher Nolan sees the insistence, by bashing SAG-AFTRA and WGA members, that studios and broadcasters limit the use of AI stems directly from the explosion of broadcasting over the past decade or more.

Referring to the present “labor dispute” without further specification, the Oppenheimer The writer-director draws a comparison between the recent actions of Hollywood and Big Tech, with his hero grappling with the thorny ethical dilemmas of nuclear science.

“When you innovate through technology, you have to make sure that there is accountability,” he said at a post-screening panel in New York. “A lot of companies over the last 15 years have been running around with terms like ‘algorithm’, not knowing what they really mean in any meaningful technical sense. These guys really don’t know what an algorithm is or what it does. People in my business talk about it, they don’t want to put up with The responsibility for what this algorithm does. When applied to artificial intelligence, has terrifying possibilities. Terrifying.”

He didn’t name specific companies, but the 15-year time frame points directly to the primary direct-to-consumer streaming companies, Netflix and Amazon. (Apple, Facebook, and others were well into their own algorithmic forays by then, too.) Team manager Chuck Todd had also prompted Nolan’s descent into union conflict by suggesting that Nolan show the film to a Silicon Valley audience.

Traditional media companies have also jumped into the data-driven live streaming race, of course. Nolan has become the embodiment of that turmoil in 2020, severing ties with Warner Bros. over its parent company’s decision to put its slate of movies on HBO Max at the same time it opened theaters.

If any tech executives or entrepreneurs watch the movie, “I want them to take the idea of ​​impeachment away,” Nolan said.

Nolan made his comments afterwards Oppenheimer It was shown at the Whitby Hotel in midtown Manhattan. The panel discussion was then moderated by Todd, the NBC host Meet the press. He joins forces with Nolan Kay Bird, who co-wrote the book on which the film is based; Tom Mason, current head of Los Alamos National Laboratory; and eminent physicists Kip Thorne and Carlo Rovelli.

“When I talk to leading AI researchers, they literally refer to this as their Oppenheimer moment,” Nolan said. “They look to his story to say, ‘What are the responsibilities of scientists who develop new technologies.'” ” [Silicon Valley?] The Oppenheimer story can at least serve as a cautionary tale. It can at least show where some of these responsibilities lie.”

OppenheimerThe run-up to its release on Friday coincided with a dramatic escalation in labor tensions in Hollywood. The film’s world premiere in London on Thursday saw cast members walk out after news broke that SAG-AFTRA brass had gone on strike. The red carpet for the US premiere was canceled Monday night in New York, though the event was still going ahead. After the London premiere, Nolan told the BBC that he “definitely” wouldn’t take on his next film project until the strikes had been resolved.