A ROMCOM is set to hit screens this summer that has been nearly-entirely created by artificial intelligence (AI), in an apparent world-first.
Experts have long speculated that AI will leave no industry unchanged.
But the quality of this AI-generated romcom might actually ease fears that a robot will soon replace you.
Chinese TV manufacturer TCL has dropped a 60-second trailer for its upcoming movie titled “Next Stop Paris” on YouTube.
There is tremendous curiosity around AI… It’s a marketing differentiator.
Chris Regina, TCL Chief Content Officer
TCL used a text-to-video generator called Runway ML and popular image generator Midjourney to produce the trailer.
With plans to grace screens this summer, “Next Stop Paris” is set in the sepia-toned “city of lights” with two face-morphing protagonists and an unclear plot.
As Futurism points out, the AI has produced two main characters that fail to resemble themselves from one scene to the next.
The AI also couldn’t generate an accurate picture of a clock tower, and instead has pasted random Roman numerals on its face.
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“In life’s journey, sometimes the heart moves too fast, or too slow,” a narrator says over the trailer.
“But if you time it just right, that’s when love arrives.”
As per a Tom’s Hardware report, it’s likely the movie is a marketing stunt rather than a serious release.
It’s won’t be the length of your traditional cinema romcom.
The company has said it’s considering making the film the length of a TV episode.
“It is a first for a trailer and for an entertainment company,” TCL Chief Content Officer Chris Regina told Tom’s Hardware.
“There is tremendous curiosity around AI,” he said.
“It’s a marketing differentiator.”
While the AI characters in their current form will struggle to replace human actors, Regina told Tom’s Hardware that his team was working on “character consistency”.
The script has allegedly been written by a human, and voiced by real actors, according to Tom’s Hardware.
Onlookers have reacted badly to the quality.
“That is disgusting and no one should be supporting movies made by AI,” one person wrote on Reddit.
Another replied, saying: “The faces aren’t even the same scene to scene omg.”
A third person said: “Thanks, I hate it, but now I know some of my writer friends’ jobs are safe(-ish) for now.”
A fourth person added: “This looks absolutely tacky and horrendous.”
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