Cristóbal Valenzuela, the co-CEO of generative AI startup Runway, told a visual-effects conference that artificial intelligence could "absolutely" replace human actors — and that the shift is "already happening in a way," according to Variety's report from Turin's View Conference.
During a fireside chat titled "Every Pixel Will Be Generated," an audience member asked Valenzuela whether AI could eventually replace human performers. "Yeah, absolutely. I think it's already happening in a way," he replied, describing AI as "a new medium of expression" and "a new medium of storytelling." He predicted future models will allow directors to direct AI performers "in a very similar way" to people, and argued in his essay "The Cost of a Frame" that AI is collapsing the "last expensive layer" of production — lighting, locations, wardrobe, extras, actors, blocking and all the rest.
Nvidia's Richard Kerris, sharing the stage, offered a counterweight: he recalled a director's argument that a moment like Marlon Brando improvising with a cat on the set of The Godfather could never be prompted. "That craft is something to behold, and I just think that's something that I don't think we'll ever lose," Kerris said, according to CBNC's coverage of the session. Valenzuela conceded the point is "not now" — but insisted models are heading toward direction "in a very similar way."
The exchange captures Hollywood's sharpest divide: between those who see generative AI collapsing production costs toward zero — Valenzuela imagines audiences eventually generating personalized entertainment as quickly as they consume it — and those who insist human spontaneity can't be typed into a model as instructions. British actor Tom Holland has made the same case, arguing that "creativity is about human experience" and therefore safe from AI.
The remarks come as the industry's AI battle intensifies: this week the WGA East struck a deal with the AI-shielding tool Cloak to protect writers' scripts from model training, while Australia's children's TV body condemned AI-generated pitches. Valenzuela's comments are likely to echo through every one of those fights.