Runway chief says AI could replace actors at Turin conference
“Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s already happening in a way.”
That was the answer from Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-chief executive of generative AI startup Runway, when an audience member asked whether artificial intelligence could eventually replace human actors. Variety reported the exchange from a fireside chat titled “Every Pixel Will Be Generated” at the View Conference in Turin.
The session paired Valenzuela with Richard Kerris, Nvidia’s vice-president of developer relations and general manager of media and entertainment. The conference programme lists the hour-long discussion for 16 Oct at 10:15 CET, as part of its 12-16 Oct edition in Torino, Italy. VIEW Conference
Valenzuela, a Runway co-founder and former researcher at NYU Tisch, described AI as “a new medium of expression” and “a new medium of storytelling.” Generative AI, software that produces images and video from written prompts, learns from representation rather than acting as a store of copied material, he told Variety. He rejected the idea that models are “some sort of a database.”
He went further on performance. Valenzuela said AI models will probably reach a point where they can be directed in a very similar way to actors. He did not name a timeline or a production using the approach.
Kerris offered a different emphasis. He recalled a director arguing that true spontaneity, such as Marlon Brando improvising with a cat on the set of The Godfather, could never be prompted. That live craft between director and actor is something “I don’t think we’ll ever lose,” Kerris said.
He added that filmmaking requires an understanding of character, composition and story. There is no “make movie button,” he said. Nvidia’s principal technical evangelist for media, Jeff Kember, also appeared at the conference with a separate talk, “Creative Control in the Age of AI Agents.”
Valenzuela has written at length about falling image costs. In an essay titled “It’s All About the Pixel Economy,” he predicted the value of creating pixels is trending towards zero. In another, “The Cost of a Frame,” he charted media history through the cost of producing a credible frame.
What makes this exchange stand out is the split on the stage. One speaker talked about directing models like cast members. The other pointed to the unplanned moment on a set. For audiences, the question is who, or what, will be credited for a performance in the years ahead.
