Movies - TV
Breaking Down The AI Art Backlash Over Late Night With The Devil
By CHRIS EVANGELISTA
Colin and Cameron Cairnes’ “Late Night with the Devil” has been playing at film festivals for over a year and has earned praise from many, including Stephen King.
However, some X (a.k.a. Twitter) users noticed what was AI art in the movie’s frames, prompting an overwhelming wave of backlash and calls to boycott the film.
While the AI art in “Late Night with the Devil” is not abundant — appearing for mere seconds — the thought of allowing any has put off some moviegoers.
The boycott is based on the idea that if any amount of AI art is allowed, studios and filmmakers will begin using it in abundance, putting human artists out of work.
The filmmakers issued a statement: “We experimented with AI for three still images which we edited further and ultimately appear as very brief interstitials in the film.”
The Cairnes brothers praised the film’s graphics and production design team. The film’s star, David Dastmalchian, weighed in on the conversation.
“The only thing that makes me sad is we had an awesome graphic design team working on this film,” Dastmalchian said. However, he understood people’s reactions to the use of AI art.
Dastmalchian pointed out that the movie was shot a few years ago, and since then, the public has learned more about AI art. Unfortunately, the statements didn’t quell the backlash.
Some X users continued to criticize the AI content, with one writing, “I think the most frustrating thing about this is how many horror fans would have done this gig for cheap.”
Others were more understanding. One X user explained that they wouldn’t boycott the film because of the use of AI, as that “doesn’t help artists either.”