AI Isn’t the Threat - It's the Tool
How Generative Tech Can Empower a New Era of Creators
There’s a growing drumbeat in Hollywood right now, a blend of curiosity, skepticism, and existential panic around AI in entertainment. In the wake of the most recent Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes, where the unchecked use of AI was a core point of contention, the debate has only intensified. Many creatives saw AI as a threat to their livelihoods, identity, and even legacy. Now, after years of speculation, Netflix has officially used generative AI in one of its scripted series, El Eternauta, applying the technology to render a building collapse in Buenos Aires. Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO, didn’t mince words: the VFX sequence was “completed 10 times faster” than traditional methods and at a cost that would’ve otherwise been “unfeasible."
Naturally, that sparked industry-wide discussion. Is this the beginning of automation wiping out creative jobs? Is AI here to replace directors, VFX artists, screenwriters?
No. Not if we do this right.
This moment isn’t about replacement, it’s about empowerment. And if we’re bold enough to tell the right story, it could mark a turning point for creators everywhere.
The False Binary: AI vs. Humans
When AI enters the conversation, the fear is immediate: displacement. We’ve seen these debates before, when CGI entered the scene, when digital cameras replaced film, when streaming crushed DVDs. But the lesson from every wave of technological disruption is the same: it’s not tech that threatens creatives… it’s how it's wielded.
Sarandos was clear: “This is real people doing real work with better tools.” That’s not PR spin. That’s the blueprint for the future.
From Automation to Amplification
If early conversations about AI in Hollywood revolved around automation, cost-cutting, and replacement, the current reality points to a richer possibility: amplification. GenAI, when placed in the hands of creators, not just corporations, becomes a scalability engine. What was once limited to big-budget studio tentpoles is now within reach for indie filmmakers, global storytellers, and visionary upstarts like Kavan Cardoza aka Kavan the Kid, whose ECHO HUNTER showcases the cinematic scale and quality now possible through AI-augmented workflows.
That scene in El Eternauta wasn’t just cost-effective, it was creatively enabling. Without AI, the dramatic building collapse might have been cut from the script altogether. With it, the creators were able to realize their vision and elevate the emotional impact of the story.
AI didn’t tell the story for them.
There is a burning village in my GenAI short film, ᏌᎪᏂᎨ, that I could never had achieved as an independent filmmaker without the assist of GenAI, it would have been cost prohibitive.
It let me tell more of the story, which was critical for authenticity and emotional impact.
The Real Opportunity: Democratization of Creative Power
In the past, high-end visual effects, shot planning, de-aging tech, and large-scale simulations were out of reach for all but the most well-funded productions. Now, thanks to AI-powered pipelines, creators can pre-visualize scenes, design worlds, and prototype ideas in real time. We’re entering an age where creative iteration happens in days, not months and where new ideas can be explored without million-dollar budgets.
This shift in accessibility doesn't just lower costs, it redistributes creative power. Kavan Cardoza's ECHO HUNTER exemplifies this transformation. As the first filmmaker to receive SAG-AFTRA approval for generative AI in narrative filmmaking, Cardoza created a new template for actor-AI collaboration. Rather than replacing performers, his approach extends familiar formats like motion capture and voiceover work into AI-augmented territory, where actors remain central while expanding what's cinematically possible. The result isn't just a polished sci-fi film, it's proof that AI can amplify human performance rather than substitute for it.
This isn’t about replacing human creativity. It’s about freeing it from traditional gatekeeping. By the way, that’s the heart of the Film3 approach: shifting creative control to those actually telling the stories, using new tools without losing authorship.
Just look at the innovators leading the way: the cross-medium storytelling coming from Massive Studios (spearheaded by co-founders/creators Dustin Hollywood, Reza Sixo Safai). Meanwhile, Darren Aronofsky’s Primordial Soup, launched with DeepMind, is pushing the boundaries of ethical, AI-assisted storytelling with a focus on narrative depth and creative sovereignty. These creators aren’t chasing automation. They’re building new cinematic languages, pushing visual boundaries, and inviting audiences into layered, emotionally resonant, AI-enabled worlds.
This is the frontier.
Transparency = Trust
Netflix’s public acknowledgment of using AI in El Eternauta marks a cultural shift: openness. They didn’t hide it. They didn’t mask it behind a PR-friendly label. That transparency matters.
Earlier this year, Amazon also embraced this ethos with House of David, an original series that used GenAI with full transparency about its use in the production process. These moves point toward a crucial truth: trust isn’t lost when AI is used, it’s lost when creators pretend it isn’t. When the tech is applied with intention, in visual effects, pre-vis, or production workflows, it enhances, not erases.
Contrast that with the 2023 uproar over the documentary WHAT JENNIFER DID, where viewers speculated (and the producers denied) that generative AI was used without disclosure.
We’ve seen similar controversy this Oscar past season. In THE BRUTALIST, AI was used to polish Hungarian dialogue. In EMILIA PEREZ, AI tools were reportedly used to enhance vocal performances. The irony? We've accepted harmonizers and Auto-Tune enhancement tools in music for forty years without questioning artistic authenticity. Neither production disclosed its use upfront and that lack of clarity reignited cultural debates around authorship, ethics, and disclosure.
Compare that to Harrison Ford's enthusiasm for the generative AI de-aging technology in INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (2023). Ford called it 'the best example of de-aging' and expressed full satisfaction with the creative results. The difference? The technology was openly discussed as part of the filmmaking process, not hidden or downplayed.
A Creator-First Future: Built on Film3 Pillars
This moment echoes what I’ve been saying for years. Empower creators.
Creator-led studios owning their IP.
On-chain licensing enabling attribution and royalty enforcement. Protects creators.
Community as utility, not just audience. Brand to participant.
Tech as a tool, not the storyteller.
Netflix’s use of GenAI isn’t the end of creativity, it’s the beginning of a new scale. And while the industry scrambles to catch up, The Squad with Film3 has been building the foundation of creator empowerment since early 2021: a model prioritizing creator control, where tools like AI are integrated under the direction of creators, not in place of them.
Others in the industry are recognizing this too. Natasha Lyonne is quickly emerging as a high-profile voice for ethical and intentional AI in Hollywood. Asteria’s tool, Marey, with partner Moonvalley, is helping set new standards for creator-controlled, AI-assisted filmmaking built with ethics and creative sovereignty at the forefront. Their commitment to transparency and storytelling is the kind of leadership this moment demands.
What Comes Next
The fear around AI is valid. It can be misused - to exploit labor, to mimic voices without consent, to erase attribution. But in the right hands, it can also restore balance. Increase accessibility. Democratize the playing field. The technology itself isn’t the villain. The story we tell with it determines the outcome.
And the most powerful story is the one where creators lead.