There’s a line stand-up comedians often turn to when a joke about controversial news hits a raw nerve: “What, too soon?”
In Hollywood, that same question might apply to Runway’s AI Film Festival, coming to Los Angeles May 1 and New York City on May 9. After long and contentious Hollywood strikes by the WGA West and SAG-AFTRA unions last year — in which actor and writer protections against the use of AI were a central issue — is it too soon to ask the industry to embrace a festival celebrating AI technology?
Surprisingly, the answer seems to be no, it’s not too soon — but for reasons that seemingly come from opposite ends of the AI argument.