“He was likely paid for this appearance” - Netizens divided over Ashton Kutcher’s comment on using AI video tool Sora to make movies

The Ranch star Ashton Kutcher stirred an online debate about AI-generated video content. During a recent chat with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt in Los Angeles' Berggruen Salon, the actor revealed that he had a "beta version" of Sora, the generative video tool developed by OpenAI. The star mentioned that the program was capable of developing up to 15 seconds of highly realistic footage.

Despite struggling a bit with the physics, Kutcher still claimed that footage from it could be used in a major film. The actor further claimed that the program would help make filmmaking significantly cheaper and that people would be able to "render a whole movie" by just giving the program an idea, using which it will generate a script. Kutcher even stated:

"Why are you going to watch my movie when you could just watch your own movie?"

Ashton Kutcher's comments caused quite a stir online regarding the ethics of AI filmmaking. Some harbored the question of whether Ashton was paid to talk positively about Sora while others were bewildered by Kutcher promoting something that they thought was going to ruin the industry. Others simply roasted the actor. Here are a few X reactions in that regard :

"He was likely paid for this appearance. Or, otherwise owns something related. It’s like Khosla hyping Rabbit R1. Not to say Sora won’t be great. Just that celebrity appearances and VC hypers don’t carry the value they previously did.", thought one user.

"How can someone in the industry promote something like this? It’ll literally destroy the way we consume content and artistry forever. Absolutely terrifying to hear.", lamented a second user.

"I am threatening Ashton Kutcher after that video about AI movies," said a third user.

"At first I was going to say he should understand why this is horrible but then I realized an AI movie is probably 100x better than anything he has acted in," thought another user.

However, a few others actually liked the concept of AI filmmaking and were excited to see what was in store. Here are a few X reactions in that regard:

"what's wrong here?", asked one confused user.

"I think this is great. It shifts power to consumers, far too many studios produce movies ā la Madam Web, which have a terrible plot with huge CGI budgets and tonnes of marketing. This will force studios to move to Quality > Quantity. Fine example of tech driving consolidation in an industry and simultaneously improving consumer experiences.", thought another user.

"Can’t wait for a world full of personalisation and creativity," said a third user.

"I wonder what type of platforms we’ll have. A marketplace of indie films," wondered yet another user.

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Ashton Kutcher claims to have rendered a realistic action scene using Sora

While talking to Eric Schmidt at the Berggruen Salon in Los Angeles, Ashton Kutcher boasted that his beta version of Open AI's Sora was "pretty amazing". Despite still being susceptible to mistakes, the actor was really enthusiastic about the progress it was making. He said:

"If you look at the generation of this that existed one year ago as compared to Sora, it’s leaps and bounds. In fact, there’s footage in it that I would say you could easily use in a major motion picture or a television show."

The That 70's Show star explained how Sora could make filmmaking cheaper by using the example of an establishing shot of a house in a television show. According to him, instead of actually shooting by spending thousands, AI could be used to do it for just $100.

Ashton even claimed that action scenes could be created using AI instead of hiring a stuntman and using CGI. He revealed:

"I, in five minutes, rendered a video of an ultramarathoner running across the desert being chased by a sandstorm. And it looks exactly like that."

According to Ashton Kutcher, all people need to make a movie with the help of AI is an idea and instead of watching films everyone else makes, now he could simply be able to watch films that he made. Kutcher explained:

"What’s going to happen is there is going to be more content than there are eyeballs on the planet to consume it."

Ashton Kutcher added:

"So any one piece of content is only going to be as valuable as you can get people to consume it. And so, thus the catalyzing ‘water cooler’ version of something being good, the bar is going to have to go way up,"

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Ashton Kutcher was last seen in the 2023 Aline Brosh McKenna Netflix Romantic Comedy, Your Place or Mine, starring himself alongside Reese Witherspoon. The movie was released on the streaming platform in February of last year.