Tyler Perry is leaning into the AI revolution and its likely going to lead to the loss of many entertainment jobs.
The filming titan has reportedly decided to halt plans to expand his movie studio—to the tune of $800M—after discovering an AI tool that can essentially write scripts and create cinematic scenes at the click of a button.
Sora, a recently debuted OpenAI generative text-to-video concept, caught Perry’s eye and he is likely to not look back.
“I was in the middle of, and have been planning for the last four years, about an $800 million expansion at the studio, which would’ve increased the backlot a tremendous size — we were adding 12 more soundstages,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “All of that is currently and indefinitely on hold because of Sora and what I’m seeing. I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me.”
Perry is known to have a reputation of using lean budgets for his projects, so it’s no surprise he’s interested in using the AI model to complete scriptwriting and scene creation without the added expense of hiring crews.
“I no longer would have to travel to locations, ” he continued. “If I wanted to be in the snow in Colorado, it’s text. If I wanted to write a scene on the moon, it’s text, and this AI can generate it like nothing,” Perry said. “If I wanted to have two people in the living room in the mountains, I don’t have to build a set in the mountains, I don’t have to put a set on my lot. I can sit in an office and do this with a computer, which is shocking to me.”
Despite his impressed awe of the technology, he also acknowledged the existential crisis we’re headed for. He’s not alone—37% of business leaders say AI technology has already replaced workers in 2023 per a report from ResumeBuilder.
“It makes me worry so much about all of the people in the business,” he continued. “Because as I was looking at it, I immediately started thinking of everyone in the industry who would be affected by this, including actors and grip and electric and transportation and sound and editors, and looking at this, I’m thinking this will touch every corner of our industry.”
He added: “a lot of jobs are going to be lost.”