Home Movie News Keanu Reeves’ AI & Deepfake Criticism Makes It Feel Like The Matrix Is Real

Beloved actor Keanu Reeves criticizes the use of AI in moviemaking, comparing the technology to the surreal simulated reality of The Matrix.

Keanu Reeves has opened up about his distrust of artificial intelligence, comparing the innovative technology to the sinister simulated reality of his groundbreaking franchise The Matrix. The Canadian actor cemented himself as a Hollywood veteran, starting his acting career with theater productions and television films before making his feature film debut in 1986’s Youngblood. Once transitioning into more mature roles with movies – including Point Break and My Own Private Idaho – in 1999, the actor achieved global stardom for his lead role as Neo in the critically acclaimed science fiction film, The Matrix, which follows Reeve’s computer programmer protagonist as he discovers that most of human civilization is trapped inside a simulated reality created by artificial intelligence machines.
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Over two decades since the release of the original The Matrix, Reeves criticized the use of AI and deep fake technology in the film industry during an interview with Variety. While rhetorically questioning the increasing popularity of art made by artificial intelligence, Reeves reveals that he has a clause in all of his film contracts banning editors from digitally manipulating his performances. Check out what he had to say below:

“I don’t mind if someone takes a blink out during an edit, but early on, in the early 2000s, or it might have been the ’90s, I had a performance changed. They added a tear to my face, and I was just like, ‘Huh?!’ It was like, I don’t even have to be here. What’s frustrating about that is you lose your agency. When you give a performance in a film, you know you’re going to be edited, but you’re participating in that. If you go into deepfake land, it has none of your points of view. That’s scary. It’s going to be interesting to see how humans deal with these technologies. They’re having such cultural, sociological impacts. People are growing up with these tools: We’re listening to music already that’s made by AI in the style of Nirvana, there’s NFT digital art. It’s cool, like, Look what the cute machines can make! But there’s a corporatocracy behind it that’s looking to control those things. Culturally, socially, we’re gonna be confronted by the value of real, or the non-value. And then what’s going to be pushed on us? What’s going to be presented to us?”

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How Artificial Intelligence Is Affecting The Film Industry

Though the popularity of artificial intelligence seems to have only gained cultural traction in recent years, the advanced technology has already started to reshape the film industry in unexpected ways. From assisting editors in developing compelling trailers to algorithmically promoting upcoming movies and television shows, AI is not new to the post-production process of marketing a film. However, it is becoming all the more common for AI tools to be used when it comes to the actual writing, filming, and development of a film.

As Reeves points out, AI is being implemented to digitally alter performances as it is a cheaper alternative than visual effects or CGI. Hit films including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Martin Scorcese’s The Irishman famously developed artificial intelligence systems to make their lead actors appear decades younger to enhance the storytelling during certain scenes. Perhaps most jarringly, AI has even been used to resurrect the image of actors who have passed away, with virtual-reality filmmaker Travis Cloyed even attempting to use archived footage to create a digital version of James Dean as himself in an upcoming drama.

While some are optimistic about the possibilities that AI allows for in the movie industry, the technology has also drawn its fair share of critics who believe that it is diminishing the value of artistry. Prevalent criticism, including from prolific filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki points out that if films are meant to explore the human condition, removing humans from the process of filmmaking negates the possibility of a truly moving outcome. As AI is still relatively new to the movie industry, only time will tell if it merely enhances the quality of upcoming films or if Reeves is right, and we are heading for a Matrix-like society in which the rapidly growing technology renders humans obsolete from Hollywood.

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Source: Variety