Avatar’ director James Cameron says generative AI is ‘horrifying

James Cameron’s films have long pushed the boundaries of visual effects — particularly the “Avatar” franchise, where the Na’vi characters are created through advanced performance capture techniques.

But despite his reputation for embracing new technology, Cameron is not enthusiastic about generative AI.

In a CBS Sunday Morning interview promoting the upcoming release of “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Cameron acknowledged that performance capture may appear similar to GenAI on the surface. However, he stressed that the two are fundamentally different.

“For years, there was this sense that, ‘Oh they’re doing something strange with computers, and they’re replacing actors,’” Cameron said. “When in fact, once you really drill down and you see what we’re doing, it’s a celebration of the actor-director moment.”

The CBS segment also highlights how the “Avatar” cast performs their underwater scenes inside a massive 250,000-gallon tank, demonstrating that the performances originate entirely from real actors.

Cameron then contrasted this with generative AI.

“Go to the other end of the spectrum and you’ve got generative AI, where they can make up a character, they can make up an actor, they can make up a performance from scratch with a text prompt,” he said. “No, that’s horrifying … That’s exactly what we’re not doing.”