# What if anyone could make perfect films and shows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anyone-could-make-perfect-films-and-shows/1031718 "2026-07-16T13:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anyone-could-make-perfect-films-and-shows/1031718/21 "2026-07-18T15:13:31Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > What’s revealing is that the instantiation of an exact fit that matches these requirements generally elicits a reaction in the asker of “no, not like that!” Well, it just isn’t what the OP asks about for one. The OP is obviously asking about a generative AI style system where you just describe, in varying levels of detail, what you want and it’s made. Though it doesn’t have to be a gen AI system if that muddies the waters; assume it’s a magic elf making movies via wish-magic if you want. Think of it as a Star Trek holodeck if you want. Point being, the question revolves around the results, not the technical bit. > [@Shalmanese](#): > > What people are _really_ asking from this question is, can I now get expert level _results_ without expert level _investment_ and this is what the entire AI art debate always circles around. That’s not really the question at all. It’s a hypothetical about what the effects would be on the entertainment industry, culture and society if the _answer_ to your quoted question was “Yes, anyone can get immediate professional level quality in a feature length film with minimal investment beyond their concept”. No one is asking if it’s currently possible (it is not). ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anyone-could-make-perfect-films-and-shows/1031718/22 "2026-07-18T15:57:32Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Well, it just isn’t what the OP asks about for one. The OP is obviously asking about a generative AI style system where you just describe, in varying levels of detail, what you want and it’s made. Right, it’s quite clear what the OP is asking for which is what every AI Art debate is asking for which is essentially a “Can we make a button that we can give everyone that will make them all famous” or more accurately, “Can I get a button that will make me famous without the work of obtaining fame”. Except the obvious incoherency of it is too naked if it’s stated out in the open so everything has to dress around it to make it seem like an interesting question. > a generative AI style system where you just describe, in varying levels of detail, what you want and it’s made. Yes, but what they object to is that the low levels of detail _result in bad work_. That’s the essential quality of every system thus proposed that they disagree with and they handwave “AI” to try and obscure this is a necessary element of every system. They want a system where the unskilled can create work at or exceeding the work of the skilled and the reason they want that isn’t actually about the work, they want a system where the unskilled _obtain the status and prestige_ of the skilled. Every actual working AI artist says the same things: It’s a tool with a steep learning curve, it’s possible to get great results out of it but it requires lots of thought and planning and often in conjunction with other tools that the artist has already mastered. This is the expected shape of this tool as has been every tool in the previous history of art. But this is an uninteresting answer for the AI Art “advocates” so current AI artists are dismissed in favor of some future AI Art technology. ---
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anyone-could-make-perfect-films-and-shows/1031718/23 "2026-07-19T00:39:44Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anyone-could-make-perfect-films-and-shows/1031718/24 "2026-07-20T00:32:44Z")
So in other words, the premise isn’t so much “anyone can make perfect films”; it’s “nobody but the magic genie can make perfect films”. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anyone-could-make-perfect-films-and-shows/1031718/25 "2026-07-20T16:20:56Z")
I think we’re looking at this the wrong way. Consider this. There are no technological barriers for a person who is literate to write the perfect book, poem or screenplay. If a person can learn the scales, there are no technical limits to composing the perfect melody. The question then becomes, how many “perfect” works are there in any medium? That takes us right back to @Lumpy in Post #5, and Sturgeon’s Law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anyone-could-make-perfect-films-and-shows/1031718.md?page=1)