The First AI Movie Star Is Coming
In this monologue, Kevin Surace argues that future filmmaking will no longer require human actors, cameras, sound stages, or crews, as generative AI can produce entire movies. He outlines current union concerns—writers demanding a human overseer for AI‑written scripts and SAG negotiating perpetual royalty payments for the use of an actor’s likeness. Surace counters that AI can generate entirely new, human‑like digital personas without paying any existing actor, likening this to iconic CGI characters such as Mickey Mouse, Shrek, and Buzz Lightyear. He predicts that within three years a fully synthetic, human‑like star will emerge, capable of headlining multiple films, and that audiences will accept such virtual actors just as they have accepted purely computer‑generated characters.
