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Christopher Nolan sees the striking SAG-AFTRA and WGA members’ insistence that studios and streamers limit their use of artificial intelligence as a direct result of the explosion in streaming over the past decade.
By referring to the current “labor dispute” without elaborating, the writer-director von Oppenheimer drew a parallel between the recent actions of Hollywood and Big Tech and his film’s protagonist, who grapples with the thorny ethical dilemmas of nuclear science .
“When you innovate through technology, you have to make sure there’s accountability,” he said at a post-screening panel in New York. “Many companies have been dealing with terms like ‘algorithm’ for 15 years without knowing what they really mean in a technical sense. These people don’t really know what an algorithm is or what it does. The people at my company who are talking about this just don’t want to take responsibility for whatever this algorithm is doing. Applied to AI, it offers frightening possibilities. Terrible.”
He didn’t name specific companies, but the 15-year timeframe points directly to the early direct-to-consumer streamers, Netflix and Amazon. (Apple, Facebook, and others were also in full swing at this point with their own algorithmic forays.) Panel moderator Chuck Todd had also prompted Nolan’s digression into the union dispute by suggesting Nolan screen the film to a Silicon Valley audience.
Of course, traditional media companies have also jumped into the data-driven streaming race. Nolan became the embodiment of this disorder in 2020 when he severed ties with Warner Bros. after the parent company decided to release its movie listings on HBO Max concurrently with its theatrical release.
If any tech execs or entrepreneurs see the film, Nolan said, “I want them to get rid of the idea of accountability.”
Nolan made his comments after Oppenheimer was shown at the Whitby Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The panel discussion that followed was moderated by Todd, host of NBC’s Meet the Press. Joining Nolan on the podium were Kai Bird, who co-wrote the book the film is based on; Thom Mason, current director of Los Alamos National Laboratory; and noted physicists Kip Thorne and Carlo Rovelli.
“When I talk to the leading AI researchers, they literally refer to this as their ‘Oppenheimer moment,'” Nolan said. “You look at his story to say, ‘What is the responsibility of scientists developing new technologies?’ [Silicon Valley?] Oppenheimer’s story can at least serve as a cautionary tale. It can at least show where some of those responsibilities lie.”
Preparations for Oppenheimer’s release on Friday coincided with a dramatic escalation in Hollywood labor disputes. At the film’s world premiere in London on Thursday, the cast walked out after it was revealed that SAG-AFTRA leadership had officially declared the strike. The red carpet has been cleared for Monday night’s US premiere in New York, but the event will go ahead. After the London premiere, Nolan told the BBC that he would “no way” tackle his next film project until the strikes were over.