Veteran filmmaker Paul Schrader praises ChatGPT and urged writers to use it

In one controversial statement that fans didn't like, Paul Schrader, who is known for films like Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999), is praising ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that sparked interest among netizens upon its release in 2022.

The 78-year-old posted this on the social media platform Facebook on January 17, 2024. The software has been involved in controversies, especially when it comes to reliable news. However, Paul is more inclined towards the idea generation for the writers, as it might cut a lot of time in it.

Paul Schrader appears stunned by the results

In his post, the filmmaker claims to have asked the software for a potential idea for a film, and here is what he wrote,

I'M STUNNED. I just asked chatgpt for "an idea for Paul Schrader film." Then Paul Thomas Anderson. Then Quentin Tarantino. Then Harmony Korine. Then Ingmar Bergman. Then Rossellini. Lang. Scorsese. Murnau. Capra. Ford. Speilberg. Lynch. Every idea chatgpt came up with (in a few seconds) was good. And original. And fleshed out. Why should writers sit around for months searching for a good idea when AI can provide one in seconds?

Paul Schrader fans appear concerned about him, as can be seen in the comments.

A fan called Matt Butterfield asked,

"Paul is everything ok?"

One of them with a top fan badges writes,

"Jesus Paul...stop promoting that sh*t, please"

The technology has taken a lot of flak among people, especially artists, since it has been trying to spread its roots in art, be it writing or designing. This becomes more evident after The Brutalist director Brady Corbet came under fire after he revealed that AI was involved in a few aspects of its production.

In June 2024, Prince Charles Cinema canceled the premiere of a film, namely The Last Screenwriter, the reason being the AI-generated script.

A year before that, 17 writers, including John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, and George R.R. Martin, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, for "systematic theft on a mass scale." Not just that, writers like Nora Roberts, Margaret Atwood, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and more have signed a petition asking big tech companies not to use their work without permission or compensation.

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