'Avatar' director James Cameron joins the Stability AI board and says he wants to integrate AI into the VFX industry

Just last year, film director James Cameron spoke out against the dangers of artificial intelligence in interviews.

Well, Cameron, the director of films like Avatar, Titanic, And Terminator 2: Judgment Dayhas agreed to join the board of controversial tech company Stability AI, whose flagship generative model Stable Diffusion has been downloaded over 150 million times. The director says he wants to find new ways to integrate AI into the VFX industry.

Here's what we know about Cameron's involvement in Stability AI, which was announced on Tuesday:

Stability AI believes Cameron's addition to the board represents a “significant step forward” in the company's “mission to transform visual media.” The company further added: “Cameron's artist-centric perspective, coupled with his business and technical acumen, will help Stability AI continue to explore new possibilities to empower creators to tell stories in ways previously unimaginable was.”
Cameron joins other newly appointed board members including Dana Settle, co-founder and managing partner of Greycroft; Colin Bryant, COO and general partner of Coatue Management; and Sean Parker, former president of Facebook, who serves as executive chairman.
Financial terms of Cameron's deal with Stability AI were not disclosed. As a rule, board members are compensated with fees and stock options in addition to other benefits.
Prem Akkaraju, the CEO of Stability AI, is the former CEO of Weta Digital, Cameron's leading visual effects studio Avatar Franchise. Akkaraju said in a statement:

James Cameron lives in the future, waiting for the rest of us to catch up; Stability AI's mission is to transform visual media for the next century by providing developers with a comprehensive AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life. We have an unmatched advantage to achieve this goal with a technological and creative visionary like James at the highest levels of our company. This is a monumental statement not only for stability AI, but for the AI industry as a whole. The next frontier in visual media will be created by a true fusion of artist and technology, and Stability AI is leading the way.
Cameron, who also runs production company Lightstorm, added:

I've spent my career seeking out new technologies that push the boundaries of what's possible, all in the service of telling incredible stories. I was at the top of the CGI world over three decades ago and have stayed current ever since. Now the interface between generative AI and CGI imaging is the next wave. The convergence of these two completely different engines of creation will open up new opportunities for artists to tell stories in ways we could never have imagined. Stability AI is poised to lead this change. I'm thrilled to be working with Sean (Parker), Prem (Akkaraju), and the Stability AI team as they shape the future of all visual media.

Cameron addressed this “intersection” between AI and CGI imaging in an interview with CNBC (see below), saying: “The next big step forward will be finding common ground, a common platform between these two areas. “ , which are very, very different.”

Cameron has previously expressed skepticism about the dangers of AI. Last year he said CTV News“I warned you in 1984, but you didn’t listen,” referring to his film terminator, and added: “I think that using AI as a weapon is the biggest danger.” In the same interview, he said that AI-generated writing will not replace human writers any time soon:

Personally, I just don't believe that a disembodied spirit simply regurgitates what other embodied spirits have said – about the life they've led, about love, about lies, about fear, about mortality – and just combines it all into a word salad and then vomit again. I don’t think there’s anything that moves the audience.”
Stability AI is among a number of companies being sued by visual artists in a class action lawsuit for using unauthorized copies of millions, if not billions, of copyrighted images to train their generative AI systems. The company's co-founder and former CEO, Emad Mostaque, resigned in March 2024 after questions were raised about his ability to lead the company.

'Avatar' director James Cameron joins the Stability AI board and says he wants to integrate AI into the VFX industry

ByVanessa

By Vanessa

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