You are not merely a gadget; you could very well be ensnared within the realm of an artificially intelligent cinema experience. In a creative collaboration as unparalleled as it is intriguing, The Hollywood Reporter has uncovered that Jaron Lanier, a long-standing technology pioneer and occasional skeptic, has joined forces with Natasha Lyonne and Brit Marling to craft a groundbreaking feature film steeped in the universe of immersive video games and replete with AI applications. Dubbed "Uncanny Valley," this venture is sponsored by Asteria, a nascent AI-powered studio established by Lyonne alongside Bryn Mooser, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and entrepreneur.
Lyonne, who will helm the film from a screenplay she co-penned with Marling, will also star alongside her. At its heart, the narrative revolves around a teenage girl whose grip on reality slips away as she becomes enraptured by an immensely popular AR video game in a parallel contemporary setting. The movie promises to interweave traditional live-action with game elements, with Lanier, Lyonne, and Marling collaborating on the latter. Moreover, the entire endeavor taps into AI technology sourced from Moonvalley, an Asteria partner, through a model named "Marey." Unlike systems from entities like Runway and OpenAI, Marey is uniquely constructed using solely copyright-cleared data.
A representative for Asteria attests that the film "will seamlessly fuse traditional storytelling techniques with pioneering AI technologies, giving birth to an unparalleled cinematic experience." Whether this film is destined for theatrical release, streaming platforms, or an even more avant-garde medium remains a mystery.
Recently, AI has been proposed as a means to bridge postproduction gaps and expedite workflows, but it has infrequently been woven into the narrative fabric of a film, especially not with such an esteemed ensemble of talent. Since co-founding Asteria, Lyonne has been experimenting with large language models, striving to position herself as a veteran actor at the forefront of innovative storytelling paradigms. This movie marks her directorial debut in a feature film; she has also helmed forthcoming episodes of her Columbo-inspired Peacock smash hit, Poker Face, which is set to return for its second season next week.
With this project, Lyonne delves deeper into the narrative experimentation that she first embarked on with the time-looping masterpiece, "Russian Doll," while Marling continues to explore the shapeshifting themes that captivated audiences in "The OA." (It's worth noting that Lyonne's partner in that cult-favorite Netflix series, Zal Batmanglij, also serves as a producer on this venture.) Lyonne describes this and other sci-fi endeavors as "tools of resistance." Rather than being just another indie project, "Uncanny Valley" stands as a pivotal early test, determining whether generative AI will rob content of its essence and reduce it to mediocrity, as some critics argue, or whether it will unlock a wealth of creative possibilities.
Mooser, who oversees a slate of projects at Asteria that hinge on its licensed-based model, expresses confidence in this project's success, attributing it to its origin in the minds of storytellers rather than programmers. "When artists take the reins of technology, rather than the other way around, groundbreaking and unforeseen advancements become a reality," remarks Mooser, who is producing alongside Justin Lacob, an executive at his documentary company. Lyonne, meanwhile, is producing under her Animal Pictures banner.
In a statement, Lyonne likens her and Marling's work on the project to "Dianne Wiest and Diane Keaton, at their most verbose and vibrant, embarking on a journey through 'The Matrix' for fun, only to find themselves holding the blueprint for a groundbreaking architectural marvel." She also praises Lanier as "a true polymath, a philosophically expansive personal hero, and a sage-like figure whose wisdom will resonate for ages."
Lanier, who left Atari to found a pivotal VR startup in the 1980s and has since emerged as one of Silicon Valley's foremost thinkers, having worked at Microsoft Research and in various public spheres, has often expressed skepticism towards the impact of Big Tech. "I'm disappointed with the direction the Internet has taken in the past decade," he told The New Yorker in 2011. "I've always believed that a human-centered approach to computer science leads to more intriguing, exotic, wild, and heroic adventures than the machine-supremacy approach, which places information above all else." (His influence on Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" is evident in the film's themes.)
In his 2010 manifesto, "You Are Not a Gadget," Lanier advocated for reclaiming personal data and humanity in the face of growing social media power. While he acknowledges that technology can be a powerful tool for artistry, he has recently noted that AI, unlike VR, can restrict consciousness.
Lanier and Lyonne previously shared the stage at a Tribeca Film Festival panel, where he highlighted the distinctions between AI and VR, stating, "In virtual reality, you can create incredibly strange experiences, transform into different animals, split your body into parts and feel a sense of diffusion, alter your perception of time, and even merge your body with others."
However, he believes that this project can successfully blend technology and humanity, even with the incorporation of AI. In a statement to THR, Lanier asserts, "This story is indeed about technology, but it's fundamentally about people and the unpredictable threads of connection that unite us across generations, technologies, and diverse eccentricities."
