Hollywood on Edge as ByteDance’s AI Tool Raises Job and Copyright Concerns
A mere 15-second clip featuring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt engaged in a fierce confrontation on a deteriorating rooftop at twilight has sparked immediate outrage and considerable concern within Hollywood in recent days. The video that gained significant attention was produced by Irish director Ruairi Robinson, utilizing Seedance 2.0, an advanced artificial intelligence video generation tool developed by the Chinese technology firm ByteDance. With a two-sentence prompt and the click of a button, Seedance produced a stunningly realistic result that marked a significant advancement over previously generated artificial intelligence videos, often referred to as AI slop due to their lack of quality. Rhett Reese, a scriptwriter recognized for his work on the “Deadpool” films, remarked in an interview that the Cruise-Pitt video had sent a “cold shiver” up his spine.
Last week, ByteDance unveiled Seedance 2.0, following a previous version that had not elicited significant backlash nearly two months prior. A news release from the company commended the updated tool’s “physical accuracy, realism and controllability,” asserting that it was appropriate for the requirements of “professional-grade creative scenarios.” “The creation process,” the release continued, “is more natural and efficient, allowing users to control their creations like a true ‘director.’” Users quickly gathered on the platform to create their own content. Robinson himself shared further videos, featuring Pitt and Cruise in a confrontation with a robot, as well as Pitt engaging in a sparring match with a sword-wielding “zombie ninja.” Concurrently, Hollywood promptly adopted a more upright posture. Charles Rivkin, the chairman and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association, urged ByteDance to “immediately cease its infringing activity,” stating that Seedance 2.0 had engaged in the unauthorized use of copyrighted works on a “massive scale.”
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has reached a valuation of $480 billion in private markets, yet it did not provide a comment when approached for a response. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors and media artists, stated that its contracts included specific and enforceable rules regarding digital replication. The kind of material represented by the Cruise-Pitt battle, he stated, “could not be produced by any of the signatories to our contracts — the studios, the streamers — without the specific, informed consent of those individuals. Not everyone is awed by Seedance’s latest technology. Heather Anne Campbell, an executive producer and a writer on the animated series “Rick and Morty,” remarked that her social media accounts last week were flooded with Seedance-generated clips featuring anime, sci-fi, and unexpected superhero battles.
However, she expressed that she is not currently concerned about the possibility of losing her job to the technology. “Everybody is, I think, swept up by the circus that came to town and is showing off,” she said. “I haven’t seen anything good yet.” There is nothing that has captivated me, nothing that resonates deeply, nothing that challenges the mind even. “It’s all just garbage.” Campbell remarked that AI services such as Seedance were, at their core, “averaging machines,” and contended that the finest art was never created swiftly or without a personal touch. “Everybody is, I think, swept up by the circus that came to town and is showing off,” she stated. “I haven’t seen anything good yet.”
