Bert Holland, founder and executive director of The AI Project and the AI International Film Festival along with actor Madelaine Lamah, and the communications director for the AI International Film Festival paid us a visit to tell us how their festival went in May, and give us the fascinating details of the upcoming panel.

“Should we regulate AI” is the topic discussed on August 17th. The panel and film festival back in May were very successful with positive feedback on both the screenings and the panel.

AI is a such a hot topic in the film industry, that they are receiving 20% more AI related film submissions every month! Their bi-annual festivals alone would not allow us to air all the really great films that deserve to be seen, so they need to have more frequent panels to keep pace with public discussion.

The fix? To add monthly events in a short format, combining expert-led public panel discussions with enlightening films from visionary filmmakers to create a consistent and collaborative platform for AI discourse on a regular basis, bringing together everyone interested in the AI topic, including tech industry, government, education, the arts, students and concerned citizens. 

International AI Filmmakers Joachim Peter from Germany, Udesh Chetty from South Africa and Cristobal Ross from Chile are planning to join via zoom, as well as Utah participants Professor Rogelio de Cardona Rivera of the University of Utah, Jepson (Ben) Taylor of Dataiku and NYU, and may more.

Mark your calendar for Thursday, August 17th at Industry SLC, 6:30pm – 9:30pm. Admission is free, and audience participation is encouraged.

• Tell us about the films you are showing.

We will showcase three great films from our June 2023 competition winners: 

• the exciting 27 minute experimental film “AI-lice through the Looking Glass” by Lerie Pemanagpo of Switzerland, exploring: How does it feel to be an AI? and should we treat AI Chatbots as sentient?

• the captivating 5 minute music video for the song “Flow” by GREBE, made by Steffen Müller, Germany, about a seductive offering of a woman to get lost in her world, while showing her aging process starting from infancy

• the revealing documentary “The Science of Success” by Annamaria Talas, Australia, which reveals how AI can now understand and even predict success in many different fields

• What are the next panels you are planning?

The next events in our series will be “What Shall We Do About AI in Education?” on September 14th and “How Will AI Affect the Film Industry?” on October 12th.

• What do you think about the SAG-AFTA topic in the film industry?
Actors are very concerned because AI can manipulate their likeness to create new films without hiring them again; writers are very concerned because AI can create new scripts without paying them.  The studios have to be concerned because competitive pressure from AI-created content may squeeze their bottom line to the point they can’t afford to pay the actors and writers as they would like to.  There is no easy solution.

• Anything more you’d like to add?
For those who can’t make our event, we are making all our winning films available streaming on the Eventive platform, and we are looking into broadcasting as well. See our website aifilmfest.org for more info.