In early Heretic screenings, audiences noticed a different type of post-film takeaway than we're used to seeing in the era of after-credit previews. (Along with a lingering blueberry scent, probably.) "No Generative AI was used in the making of this film," a message read as the credits rolled. For directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, it represents the fulfillment of what's become a sort of quest to push back against the technology in any way they can.
"We have no illusions that when people watch Heretic they’re going to go, ‘Wait, did they use generative AI?' It doesn’t feel like that at all, but it was important for us to put that out there because we think it’s something people need to start talking about," Woods told Variety in a recent interview.
Heretic, which follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) trapped in a house with a sinister man (Hugh Grant), is a psychological thriller that doesn't rely on the sort of grand special effects that would need AI. Still, that doesn't mean the encroachment of generative AI doesn't affect Woods' life and livelihood in the present or in the future. "I think this idea that an algorithm can just scrape all of human history and art off the internet, repackage it, regurgitate it, spit it out and somebody else can use that to create profit… I don’t know why that’s legal," he said. "[W]e’re on the precipice of every job on planet Earth being replaced overnight. It’s going to happen so fast. And it’s easy for it to happen in the arts. We’re in a business that is exceptionally greedy. Decisions are made for the bottom line and not for the good of the artistic process."
While Heretic's studio A24 got into some trouble for using AI in their Civil War posters back in April, Beck says they completely stood by the directors' decision to put the notice in the credits. (It would be a win-win for the studio, anyway.) "They’re a studio that is incredibly artist-friendly in the best sense possible," he said. "They’re a home where you feel like you’re working with human beings, you’re not working with algorithms, or ‘How does the test score dictate the rollout of a movie?’"
Still, as more studios and big names like Blumhouse and James Cameron get on board with the technology, the Heretic directors are urging extreme caution. "AI is an amazing technology," Woods said. "Beautiful things will come of it, and it’s jaw-dropping. What is being created with generative AI and video… it’s amazing we could create that technology. Now let’s bury it underground with nuclear warheads, cause it might kill us all." It's no wonder fellow A24 release Ex Machina used the famous Oppenheimer "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" quote to characterize AI all the way back in 2015.
