Eye on AI: Could artificial intelligence replace animal performers?

Background: Hollywood is currently grappling with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). One example is Tilly Norwood, one of the industry’s newest stars. She is a digital creation by Particle6 Studios, a UK-based, AI-focused film production company. In response to this shifting landscape, major institutions like the Oscars and the Golden Globes recently declared that digital avatars are ineligible for acting awards. If AI eventually replaces human actors on the silver screen, many wonder if animal performers will be next.

When director Robert Vince was filming Air Bud Returns, he was impressed to see Roscoe, his four-legged star, improvising concern in a scene where two humans burst into tears.

“He’s curious to what’s going on,” Vince said. “This is real.”

Having worked on more than a dozen productions featuring dogs, Vince said he is still impressed by the authenticity animal actors bring to film sets.

For him, the magic of a canine performer cannot ever be replicated by artificial intelligence (AI).

“You look at how much joy this dog, and human actors, give you, right?” he said, gesturing to Roscoe, the golden retriever star of Air Bud Returns. He is wearing a T-shirt and basketball shoes, still boundlessly enthusiastic despite greeting fans for hours.

Vince, 64, said that every technological innovation initially causes a stir and sparks curiosity among audiences.

But wizardry can only wow for so long before audiences see through it and start looking to the fundamentals again.

“I remember when visual effects really [appeared], everybody was like: ‘Oh, those are so cool. We’re gonna do a million superhero movies.’ After a while, it’s like: ‘Oh, I’ve seen that before,’” said Vince, who spoke with Agence France-Presse at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas.

“It’s really about your emotional connection to the characters. There’s an authenticity to this type of filmmaking that does not go away,” he added.

Air Bud Returns, slated for release in US cinemas in 2027, is the latest chapter in a franchise that began in 1997. The first film featured a runaway circus dog with an extraordinary ability to play basketball.

Subsequent instalments showcased other popular sports, including football (Air Bud: World Pup) and baseball (Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch).

At a time when Hollywood is grappling with the job-killing effects of AI, Vince said he’s confident the new technology will never displace the warmth of a real-life performer, human or animal.

“Despite what everybody wants you to believe, I don’t really believe it’s happening,” he said. “You don’t get any emotion out of that.”

And, of course, a cute golden retriever who can shoot hoops as well as he can act is always going to hit the mark, he said.

“It’s all dog, all the time,” he said. “We have an audience that grew up with the original Air Bud movie, where there was no CGI. And so we kept that promise in this movie.”

For Vince, the audience reception to news of the latest production, which sees the canine hero back on the basketball court, has been “overwhelming”.

“But I can’t say I’m surprised,” he added.

“We know from social media ... that this movie was basically being begged to be made.”

He said that’s because Air Bud is a quintessential family film that a whole generation remembers from childhood.

“People that grew up with [Air Bud] ... are millennials that were 10 years old when they saw the original one. They are now parents, and they have kids of their own.”