Generative AI has opened new creative possibilities for filmmakers, which comes with real responsibilities. This talk walks through the creative workflow behind an AI-generated silent documentary, confronts synthetic media as means to fabricate historical "evidence," and addresses the need for AI literacy, responsibility and understanding how to fact-check. It also offers a positive and new approach to using this technology in documentary filmmaking.
The use case comes from experience developing and teaching AI in Filmmaking: A Critical Exploration at MFA Computer Arts, SVA. It will conclude with a screening of the silent documentary film the students produced, called The Good Italian, made with generative AI, archival images, first-source research, and traditional tools.