Brad Pitt believes artificial intelligence could be a practical tool for getting mid-budget films made, rather than a threat to the industry. In an interview with Esquire published Monday, the actor said the technology is "going to be a very interesting experiment" and argued that, used smartly, AI can address a specific problem in the film business.
"There's a lot of pushback against AI, but AI is going to be the very thing that, if used as a tool, is going to help these mid-budget films, $40 to $90 million-budgeted films, get made," Pitt said.
The visual effects argument
Pitt was specifically referring to AI's role in creating visual effects for movies. For productions in the $40 million to $90 million range, the cost of traditional VFX can eat deeply into the budget. AI tools, he suggested, could reduce that expense and make more projects viable.
The actor drew a line, however, when asked about replacing human actors altogether. When asked whether AI could have re-created his own performance in a recent film, Pitt said the outcome depends on the people using the technology.
"Who's behind it, who's telling the story," he said. "Who's saying, 'I want to see this emotion from him,' and then being able to mine through whatever AI provides and going, 'More in this direction,' and tailoring it in that way. So they could, but the final product might not be my choices and what I found and discovered in the thing."
Actors and scans
Pitt also addressed the practice of scanning actors, which is commonly used to capture body and facial data for stunt work and post-production. He said he has been scanned "for the last 20 years" and has always included a contractual clause that he owns the scans and can destroy them.
"I've always put in my contract: 'I own them and I destroy them.' I should have kept them!" he said. "All this time I've always had them destroyed, because I'm paranoid Ozark boy."
Why this matters for creatives
Pitt's comments point to a specific shift for professionals in film and video production: AI tools are becoming a cost-management option for projects that AI for Creatives Courses & Certifications are not blockbusters. For editors, VFX artists, and post-production staff, this means understanding how AI handles visual effects work could become a skill directly tied to the viability of entire projects. As Pitt frames it, the technology isn't replacing actors - but it may determine whether certain films get made at all.
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