Advancement or Setback: Consequences of AI in Documentaries

Artificial intelligence continues to infiltrate the creative film industry. As documentaries supposedly produce societal commentaries from real perspectives, incorporating AI into every day practice might present more harm than good to the industry. Creators should consider the consequences of AI in documentaries, as it threatens a given film’s integrity, reception, and continual survival.

Reliance on AI could pose devastating consequences to upcoming documentaries

AI Threatens Effectiveness

Although increasingly better at disguising itself, artificial intelligence in large quantities is still identifiable in a product. The extent of AI involvement alters how art reads—some would argue that it replaces the soul in a piece. Removing the humanity from documentaries will decrease their value in the film industry. Documentaries are effective in storytelling for their human element, because using real people encourages empathy and connection with audiences—the more AI contributes to a documentary, the less human the final product feels. Telling a human story through a robot’s mouth lacks the sincerity and conviction that most documentaries rely on to capture and hold viewership. In replacing people with AI, documentaries are surrendering their greatest feature.

AI Conflicts with Advocacy

Documentaries often pursue advocacy, conservation, and justice. It is incredibly hypocritical, then, to incorporate AI into production at the expense of the groups any given documentary claims to uplift. Removing job opportunities and training a machine to fill human roles steals from artists, stunting career growth for thousands of people and crafting steeper barriers for new and underrepresented voices to overcome. Production remains a fiscal cycle that pushes people and the planet aside for gain, enlightening viewers to a failure to walk the walk. Sentiments hoped to be conveyed then read dishonest and salesy. When documentaries preach stories of justice without living it, it no longer matters what’s said on-screen. The more producers allow AI to replace artists, the less their stories will be received.

AI Contradicts Documentaries' Purpose

When documentaries utilize AI tools to edit, gloss, or enhance images, they are further contributing to a disappearing sense of reality. Consumers absorbing social media, product reviews, and scripted reality shows already lack footing in sorting what is true and what is a gimmick on-screen. Documentaries are supposed to be educational, factual, and insightful—it is dishonest of producers to eliminate imperfections with the help of AI, whilst claiming to produce a story which is real. This contradiction hasn’t dissuaded advertisements or influencers from selling on-screen, but documentaries are meant to be a separate medium. If they do no better, and begin replacing their effective elements (empathy, narration, and connection, for example) with glossy, enhanced artificial ones, then they are eliminating themselves from an already dwindling list of art forms. In essence, documentaries relying on AI have gone further than falsify to their audiences—they’ve undercut their purpose in the creative world. 

Documentaries turning themselves over to AI have lost touch with what keeps them relevant

The Consequences of AI in Documentaries

Considering how too much AI involvement renders documentaries dishonest, shallow, and otiose, producers and consumers alike should be very aware of the consequences heavy reliance on AI might have on the industry. Viewers might read the insincerity from documentaries and decide the message is something they should not care about, thus reducing the interest in documentaries and squelching advocacy efforts. If documentaries are going to continue contributing to society as a creative medium, they would be wise to limit their use of AI, lest they become just another advertisement.