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Personally against AI overall (which is ironic, considering my larger point) but it's starting to feel like the term has become all encompassing - if this had been initially represented as the sound department modulating Brody's voice and accent and dubbing some sections, it may not have become such a big deal. The film industry is currently at a crossroads with AI, and rightly so, but to properly discuss its advantages and disadvantages, we (and the media especially) need to be able to dissect it properly and get into the weeds. AI is not a looming monolith. It's a collection of many, many new avenues, some of which might genuinely be helpful and many of which are going to cannibalize existing processes. We need to be able to discuss this more smartly.

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Been very interested in this topic as a Brady Corbet fan and someone who loved The Brutalist. I listened to an interview with Corbet yesterday where he says that they really wanted Hungarian viewers to feel it was as authentic a representation as possible, given that Hungarian is notoriously tricky to learn fully.

And it seems like they really went to every length they could to make sure this wasn't your typical case of using AI to cut corners. Brody and Felicity Jones both still had to learn Hungarian and own all of the rights to any output in perpetuity, and the process of using ReSpeecher was a manual one which focused on replacing individual letters where necessary (rather than creating anything from scratch) that actually created extra jobs in post-production, rather than getting rid of them. Hopefully (though probably not) this could serve as an example of the beneficial ways in which AI can used in the film industry, as opposed to the very destructive ways.

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We agree completely! There are positive use cases here. And I love the tidbit that this actually created jobs.

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“No hay banda! There is no band! Il n'est pas de orquestra! This is all... a tape-recording. No hay banda! And yet we hear a band. If we want to hear a clarinette... listen.

Un trombon "à coulisse".

Un trombon "con sordina".

J'aime le son du trombon in sourdine. Je le sens... a muted trumpet. It's all recorded. No hay banda! It's all a tape. Il n'est pas de orquestra. It is... an illusion!”

-Mulholland drive

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