I don’t know, folks. While the video games industry continues to encounter pushback regarding the use of AI, Hollywood is trying hard to get us acclimated to the tech, and fast. The Devil Wears Prada 2 (read our review here) opens with Miranda (Meryl Streep) recovering from a botched article at Runway Magazine, with the silver-haired editor-in-chief becoming the subject of GIFs, memes, and other AI-generated images and videos online. One of them uses a human artist to depict an AI-generated image of Miranda as a fast-food worker. When contacted about the image, artist Alexis Franklin explained how it was “fun” to paint Miranda as an AI-generated figure.

Franklin on creating the AI-looking image

“I got to paint this at the request of [director] David Frankel for ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ (it shows up in the movie),” wrote Franklin on Instagram, sharing a time-lapse video of her process. She added, “Absolutely no disrespect to Queen Meryl, but this is something I would’ve painted in my free time, so when they asked me to do this, it was nothing but fun.”

Franklin continues, “I posted this on Instagram yesterday and got flooded with comments of relief that this gag in ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ was created by an actual human (me), so I figured I’d also post it here because I think these companies should get their flowers when they hire an artist.”

Crisis averted

Okay. I must admit I was confused by this story at first. I’d assumed that a human artist used AI tools to create the image, not the other way around. Context, folks. It’s your friend. This situation would have felt a lot more scummier if the studio had asked a human artist to use AI to compose the image when they’re perfectly capable of painting it themselves.

I’m not saying AI doesn’t have its perks. There are situations where AI-generated content saves time and money. But using AI is also a slippery slope. Once you start eliminating jobs in favor of AI, we’ve got a problem. If you’re hiring a human artist to create images with AI instead of using their gifts to complete the job, what gives? I could go on and on about this, but I won’t. As it turns out, this is a rare case where the studio saw the writing on the wall and acted accordingly. Other projects should be so lucky.

What do you think about the use of AI in films? Let us know in the comments section below.