Boyle Confirms 30 Seconds of AI in 'Ink' — SkimNews
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- Danny Boyle confirmed roughly 30 seconds of generative AI in "Ink" (which opened the Venice Film Festival this week before Telluride), used to animate old photographs and create mice running through The Sun newsroom.
- Social media viewers speculated whether AI reanimated images of the Kray brothers and former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; the credits reportedly disclose AI use, though production did not confirm that to Deadline.
- At the Venice press conference, Boyle warned tech giants could replace journalism with cheaper "AI journalists" who "speak truth to the power that created it."
- On AI in filmmaking, Boyle called it "a very useful tool" provided filmmakers use it respectfully and pay actors if replaced — and noted he has avoided real animals since a PETA dispute over chimpanzees in "28 Days Later."
- "Ink" stars Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce, and Claire Foy, charting The Sun's rise under editor Larry Lamb, who was poached from the Daily Mirror in 1969 by Rupert Murdoch.
- The Studiocanal and Netflix co-production launches in cinemas in December and on Netflix in January, carrying an 85% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
Why it matters: For an Oscar-winning director publicly embracing generative AI on a prestige Studiocanal/Netflix release while simultaneously warning that tech giants could replace journalism with AI, the ~30 seconds of AI in "Ink" becomes a real-world test of how transparently Hollywood discloses generative AI in end credits — a question production would not confirm when asked.
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