Civil War and A24 Slammed for Using AI in New Posters

Summary

• AI in art continues to spark controversy. A24 faces backlash for using it in promotional posters for
  Civil War
  .
• Many artists and others expressed disappointment in A24 for resorting to artificial intelligence, questioning the company’s commitment to creative freedom.
• Concerns about AI replacing human labor in the arts industry and beyond have led people to condemn its usage.

There have been a lot of discussions about the new Alex Garland film, Civil War, which recently had the best opening weekend box office in film studio A24’s history. People on both sides of the binary political spectrum have enjoyed it, with conservatives seeing it as a critique of journalists and liberals seeing it as a takedown of the authoritarian far-right. The major criticism of Civil War is that it’s too vague, with Garland intentionally avoiding specific ideologies in order to get a wider audience. Well, the film’s generating a new discussion now, thanks to A24 releasing a series of posters created by artificial intelligence.

Any usage of AI in art risks coming under fire by artists, creatives, and humanists who have been pushing back against what they see as the soullessness of artifical intelligence and its dangerous potential to replace working people and upend labor and art as we know it. Even a well-received film like the recent Late Night with the Devil was slammed for using AI, despite it only being in certain still-frame images in the film, according to the filmmakers. Now it’s Civil War’s turn. You can find the AI posters below and decide for yourself:

Related Every New A24 Movie Releasing in 2024 A24 is a non-stop hit machine, and that’s not stopping in 2024, check out every release from the distributor this year.

The Backlash Over AI and A24

Civil War

3.5/5

Release Date April 12, 2024

Studio A24, DNA Films

A24 shared the posters on Instagram with the caption, “America the beautiful,” but they surely didn’t expect the backlash for their use of AI. The critique has mainly come from artists themselves. “I would have thought a company like a24 would not touch the ai plagiarism machine in a million years. Disappointing to say the least,” wrote @artbyemilyhare. “A24 being synonymous with AI?” asked @jamesbaileyart. Meanwhile, @ceo.0f.bass wrote:

I wasn’t gonna talk sh*t about this being AI generated until I saw the neon letters going over the trees on slide 4. also wtf is up with the massive swan?

The comments go on and on, including from many people who obviously love A24. They are understandably disappointed that one of the rare beacons of creative freedom and indie productions in Hollywood has resorted to artificial intelligence. For example, @mikemullaney writes:

Ahh man not you too A24! Great movie, why resort to advertising this AI-generated nonsense? Not to mention that one of the movies strengths is what’s left unseen. Congrats on the opening weekend and all but you know you’re better than this.

You can find the Instagram post below.

Artificial intelligence was at the forefront of the recent WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, with actors and writers worried about AI replacing them and making human labor redundant. While some may argue that the use of AI in art is no different from Photoshop or CGI or any other technological assistance, artists tend to fear that the more powerful the AI is, especially in the hands of the most powerful corporations, the less their artistry will be valued. The battle wages on; it’s almost its own civil war.

You can watch our interview with the very real and non-artificial actors of Civil War below:

You can view the original article HERE.