If the term “Pandora’s box” was ever applicable to a scientific breakthrough, the Manhattan Project’s detonation of the first atomic bomb in the summer of 1945 would have to be a frontrunner alongside genetic editing, super colliders, and artificial intelligence.
It’s rare for a filmmaker so dedicated to analog, in-camera effects, and general tradition praising something as nascent as machine learning. But Nolan is the kind of artist that seems to appreciate the power of new tools as they emerge. It’s not surprising to hear, based on his past use of vfx.
I’m not terribly impressed with machine learning as a product but at least he’s on the right track with using it where it excels.
This is why I find his perspective credible and fascinating.
He’s looking to find what the technology really is best at, what it buys and at what trade-off/risk. It’s because he’s the opposite of a shiny-things driven early adopter that any insight he has into where AI can truly expand the envelope is intriguing.
At first, I totally read that title as of a tiny Christopher Nolan belonging to Oppenheimer said the quote, and not the director of a film called Oppenheimer. I’ve been awake too long.
