On Tuesday, Google.org announced a $2 million investment in the Sundance Institute. It aims to train more than 100,000 artists in foundational AI skills as industry debate over AI use and consent grows.
The grant will create an AI Literacy Alliance with The Gotham and Film Independent, led by the Sundance Institute. Programs include free online curriculum development, scholarships for Google courses like AI Essentials, and an AI Creators Fellowship.
The institute will give filmmakers early access to Flow, Google’s AI filmmaking tool. This follows a year-long collaboration with filmmakers that blended live action and AI sequences.
The announcement noted only a quarter of media companies currently invest in AI training. A newly formed Creators Coalition on AI is pushing for enforceable rules on how AI is trained and used.
Actor Matthew McConaughey secured trademarks on his catchphrase to deter unauthorized AI use. Emmanuelle Saliba of GetReal Security warned, “The floodgates are open. It’s never been easier to steal an individual’s digital likeness—their voice, their face—and now, bring it to life with a single image.”
Ben Affleck spoke on the Joe Rogan Experience, calling AI a tool that “goes to the mean, to the average” and saying “It’s going to be good at filling in all the places that are expensive and burdensome.”
