Cannes Film Festival opens amid controversy over AI and Hollywood boycott

In the main competition, a total of 22 films are vying for the prestigious Palme d’Or for best film. The Cannes Film Festival is rolling out the red carpet for its annual edition in France, facing the dizzying pace of change driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and the absence of major Hollywood studios. In the main competition, a total of 22 films are vying for the prestigious Palme d’Or for best film, which last year was won by Jafar Panahi’s highly political Iranian film “It Was Just an Accident.” But as is usually the case on the eve of the world’s biggest film festival, off-screen topics dominate the conversation, particularly how to deal with the changes brought about by artificial intelligence—and Hollywood’s decision to boycott the event. Cannes Director Thierry Frémaux has spoken out strongly against artificial intelligence and its impact on the industry, where job losses for voice actors and translators are on the rise, and screenwriters and actors fear for their livelihoods. “What is certain is that here in Cannes, we support artists, we support screenwriters, and we support everyone involved in these professions—both actors and voice actors,” Frémaux said, as quoted by AFP. He proposed that in the future, films be labeled similarly to organic foods and wines, and “we will say: ‘this film was created without artificial intelligence.’” However, the festival announced on May 11 that it had signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the tech giant and AI investor Meta. The company owned by Mark Zuckerberg is at the center of a brewing scandal surrounding the latest film by director Steven Soderbergh, the Oscar winner for “Traffic,” which is set to premiere in Cannes. Soderbergh collaborated with Meta to obtain AI-generated footage of the late Beatles composer John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono for his documentary “John Lennon: The Last Interview.” The use of AI was at the center of the 2023 strikes that paralyzed Hollywood, as actors and screenwriters warned that unchecked technology threatens the industry. Thousands of French actors and directors warned in an open letter in February that AI tools were “robbing” talent across the industry, comparing them to a “devouring hydra.” Soderbergh is one of the few Hollywood greats in Cannes this year, while others, such as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan—whom the organizers had hoped to attract—are not on the festival program.