The technology has to exist first. The technology is first picked up by early adopters: hustlers, marketers, hypsters. Not by practicing professionals.

It takes time for the new tools to work their way into the creative field. It first gets pushback, then it happens a little, and then all at once.

We're still super early days into this tech. Give it more time and it'll be all-capable and everywhere.

The canary in the coal mine is all the young people playing with it.

Which, to be fair ... considering the past, we always have one or two notable indie films inspired by access to tech, so we'll probably see one or two more in years to come, amid a sea of slop.

Blair Witch was achievable not just because it was low-tech but because the premise can be done cheaply.

If I want to make (for example), a globe-trotting spy film, locations and travel are expensive. If there's going to be car crashes, props are expensive. If I do it on a hobbyist budget, it will look the part.

To be honest, I expected to rise of the "all CGI" film more than the AI-gen film. You still have full artistic control rather than wrestling the gacha on specifics, but now you can afford to level Paris and rebuild it in the next scene, and you don't have to worry about the lead actor gaining 10kg before the sequel.