Allison Williams, who portrays Gemma in M3GAN, opened up about how she feels about AI possibly having a role to play in the future of filmmaking. M3GAN sees Williams’ character take in her orphaned niece, Cady, after her parents die in a car accident, giving her the sentient AI doll M3GAN as a friendly and protective companion. However, M3GAN soon begins taking her role as Cady’s protector too seriously, her programming leading her to kill anyone she perceives as a threat to Cady’s physical or emotional well-being.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Williams was asked about how she feels regarding the possible implementation of real-world AI into filmmaking, the question in line with M3GAN‘s thematic connection to AI as a concept. Williams discussed how, while many jobs in filmmaking could be seen as replaceable, the humanity found within film may not be replicable by a machine. Check out what Williams had to say below:
But what is more effective? What is better? What is going to create better results? All of this is stuff we need to talk about. I think people who write scripts are irreplaceable. Of course, a bot could write a script, and I’d be very curious to see what it would look like. I’m sure it’s happened already, but you’re not going to be able to do away with us that quickly. Screenwriters, actors, directors, we all technically could be replaced, eventually, but I’m really hoping that’s far away. I think that the human-lived experience that writers can bring to the page is something that is really hard to replicate, but like everything else, eventually, they will learn how. So we’ll just have to think about how we’re going to handle it ahead of time. How do those contracts work? I don’t know.
How M3GAN Uses AI In A Unique Horror Setting
The possibility of AI programs replacing the human-crafted stories that resonate with massive audiences worldwide isn’t something Williams believes will happen any time soon. However, the question does resonate with M3GAN‘s use of AI in a horror setting, given M3GAN’s role as a replacement for human connectivity. By making M3GAN act as Cady’s guardian, Gemma essentially hands the young girl a phone in the form of a robot, replacing guardianship with a machine. M3GAN‘s basic premise underscores the horror of what it means for AI to replace human companionship.
The special effects in the film also help highlight its horror, with M3GAN’s uncanny, doll-like aesthetic accentuating the terrifying nature of her murderous tendencies. M3GAN’s appearance helps to show how, despite being created by Gemma to keep Cady safe, the android girl is still a robot following the orders of her programming. To that end, M3GAN is made even more creepy because her actions are built on the foundation of her orders to keep Cady safe, a well-intentioned gesture by Gemma that has dire, unforeseen consequences. The effects only accentuate this aspect of the movie, turning M3GAN into a character that looks creepy because she doesn’t look human enough despite having human-like traits.
As M3GAN showcases the threat of a sentient AI in a fictional setting, the advent of ideas like AI stories and art online could open the door for future films. While the quality of such productions remains unclear for now, the future may see some film companies utilize AI to create stories humans have yet to dream up. While M3GAN remains a fictionalized tale of a rogue android that takes her programming too seriously, the implementation of real-world AI in filmmaking isn’t so farfetched.
Source: THR