The End of Oak Street AI Use In Promo Causes Controversy
The End of Oak Street is the latest film in a seemingly endless line to come under fire for using Artificial Intelligence, with David Robert Mitchell’s upcoming sci-fi flick facing online scrutiny for AI use in its promotional material.
The director’s fourth feature film is set to star Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella and Christian Convery as a seemingly ordinary family whose lives are turned upside down when their neighbourhood somehow crosses path with prehistoric creatures on the hunt.
Despite an intriguing presence and some talented leading star power, Mitchell’s senior feature film is in hot water after it was discovered that a recent promo clip posted online, featuring two dogs called Goldie and Frenchie interviewing the family dog seen in The End of Oak Street called Starbuck, was created by a podcast publicity in favour of using AI generated content, alongside approval by Warner Bros.
DogPack are known as a ‘pawgcast’ online involving a band of brothers who write their own comedy scripts which are then morphed into visual sketches using AI. The page currently has 980,000 Instagram followers and over 2,000 posts, all using Artificial Intelligence.
Unlike previous examples of filmmakers and studios facing backlash for using AI, this case presents additional promotional work making use the computer systems which has divided art and the world like never before, rather than something you would have to witness in the actual film.
Nonetheless, film fans aren’t happy and are taking to social media platforms to voice their disapproval and concern.
“I hate to say this but, are these companies braindead? Like are they actually unwell?” one response online wrote, which has hit over 2,000 views. “Because there is no way some corpo cunt in an office genuinely thought this was a good idea. This is actively HARMING the movie before it even releases.”
Read more about AI in filmmaking here
“Nothing about what you said is good,” another user replied. “Gen Ai is an insult to any, and every creative, and that means its an insult to everyone in the film industry, including the people who worked on The End of Oak Street.”
“The worst way to promote a film is with AI slop,” another warned.
Some responses reminded users to not blame the director and stars for this concerning advertising idea. “Remember just because Warner did some ai…. doesn’t mean you should just hate and shit on the movie. The people that worked on the film got nothing to do with this,” one user noted.
The promo clip has seen been removed from official pages but is still circulating online to keep the fire going.
The End of Oak Street hits cinemas on the 14th August.
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