Maggie Gyllenhaal rejects AI use in Marilyn Monroe short film

At the Venice Film Festival, filmmaker and jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal revealed that she abandoned an experiment using artificial intelligence in her short film, ‘Flesh Impact’. The project, which explores the life of Marilyn Monroe, involved using licensed AI trained on Monroe’s films to digitally overlay her likeness onto actress Dakota Johnson.

Gyllenhaal stated that she ultimately discarded the AI-generated footage because it ‘fundamentally did not work’, noting that the technology stripped the humanity and emotional nuance from Johnson’s performance. She argued that the AI version failed to capture the qualities that made the project meaningful, finding Johnson’s human portrayal to be far more ‘moving, human, and alive’.

During a symposium on the future of creativity, Gyllenhaal and other industry figures, including George Clooney, raised concerns regarding the impact of AI on the film industry. Discussions included the potential for job losses among crew members and actors, the environmental costs of data centers, and the risk of technology concentrating power and profit within a few controlling companies.