I’ve seen the best and worst of Star Wars in the last few weeks. The Disney+ series Andor, which recently concluded its final season, takes the era of Imperial rule and uses it to spin a textured and mature story about politics, tyranny, and the power of resistance. It’s brutal, beautiful, and potentially as good as Star Wars has ever been.
So imagine my horror when I saw this. The “this” in question is a TED Talk by visual effects artist Rob Bredow – who got an Oscar nomination for his work on Solo: A Star Wars Story – entitled “Star Wars Changed Visual Effects — AI Is Doing It Again”. Over the course of around 10 minutes, he traces the modern history of VFX from the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park through to the use of wraparound virtual sets on Star Wars series The Mandalorian.
He makes some great points about the intersection between new technology and the genius of creative talent. Then he moves on to AI, introducing a two-minute short called Star Wars: Field Guide – produced in two weeks by a single artist.
It’s one of the worst things I have ever seen in my life.
If you don’t want to watch it – and I don’t blame you – the clip is essentially a montage of different “alien creatures” glimpsed through the viewfinder of a droid’s eyes. The vibe, though, is essentially the same as those weird stock videos of nature footage they play on fancy TVs in Curry’s. These aren't aliens; they’re just normal animals with slight cosmetic changes. What if a peacock had a snail shell and antennae? What if an antelope was blue? What if a polar bear had tiger stripes? What if a turtle had the head of a crocodile? What if a lion was also blue?
Look, the lion is blue. Are you impressed yet?
(Credit: TED/Disney)
Not exactly Wookiees and Jawas, is it? When the video ends – to applause that can best be described as polite – Bredow ambles back into shot and says, without a hint of irony: “It’s pretty fun to see artist expression leveraging the latest new tools.” I’m pretty liberal in what I describe as “artist expression”, but I’m not sure that sitting in front of a computer for two weeks and typing “make lots of animals blue” counts.
Obviously, I’m being hyperbolic and there’s no suggestion that anything like this could ever be officially released as a mainline Star Wars movie or TV show. It’s very much a test of what’s possible. But the damning thing is how exciting Bredow – clearly an expert in the field and a talented artist in his own right – is about it. The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park still look incredible 30 years on, whereas Star Wars: Field Guide is already ageing like Bantha milk.
This isn’t even the only AI controversy currently engulfing the galaxy far, far away. Earlier in May, Fortnite announced that players could now interact with Darth Vader – powered by an AI model, using the voice of the late actor James Earl Jones. “Strategise with the ultimate Sith Lord. With your voice. And he’ll respond back using conversational AI,” wrote Epic Games in its announcement.
If you’re familiar with AI, the internet, or video games, then you’ll be able to predict what happened next – as reported by Wired. Within hours, players had reportedly managed to get the AI Vader to swear, use homophobic slurs, and refer to Spanish as “a useful tongue for smugglers and spice traders”. Epic Games said they closed these loopholes immediately and will continue to monitor the model.
But that’s not the only issue being faced by Fortnite’s temperamental Sith Lord. The acting union SAG-AFTRA has filed a complaint with the US National Labor Relations Board, citing the fact that Epic Games has sought “to replace the work of human performers with AI technology”.
Fortnite's new AI Darth Vader has immediately presented problems
(Credit: Epic Games)
AI is a major point of argument for SAG at the moment, with AI guardrails implemented for the movie and TV world following the high-profile Hollywood strike action in 2023. The portion of the union representing video game voice actors has withdrawn its labour from various companies since July 2024, partially due to concerns around generative AI. Darth Vader is now at the centre of that fight.
Star Wars is one of the most successful – and therefore valuable – media franchises in the world. So it’s only natural that AI artists and creators will want to seek innovative ways to make the most of recognisable characters and worlds. But what’s becoming clear is that fans and artists won’t let go of their Star Wars without a fight.
Andor showed us all how amazing Star Wars can be when it has genuine creativity at its heart. This 50-year-old franchise can still surprise us, thrill us, and make us gasp when there’s a visionary talent at the wheel. But it has less to offer when it points at a blue lion and tells us it’s as compelling as a Star Destroyer. There lies the path to the Dark Side.
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