Prior to writing and directing “S1m0ne,” Andrew Niccol penned 1998’s delightfully existential “The Truman Show,” a dramedy that was eerily clairvoyant about the ways technology would turn ordinary people into celebrities and our everyday routines into a fascinating spectacle (first via reality television and now through social media). Instead of focusing on the average individual, however, “S1m0ne” tackles similar themes but is centered on Hollywood. It predicts that our obsession with using technology to showcase our humanity would turn into artificial intelligence taking it away.
Al Pacino stars in “S1m0ne” as Viktor Taransky, a has-been director whose newest film is thrown off course when his mercurial star, Nicola Anders (Winona Ryder), quits. Casting a new lead would take time and money, so Viktor secretly uses a computer program that creates Simone (Rachel Roberts), an entirely digital star whose name is short for Simulation One. Viktor allows computer algorithms to modulate every gesture, every vocal inflection, and every emotional nuance so flawlessly that Simone ties with herself for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Off screen, Simone is also media-trained and docile. She will never storm off a set. She never makes any mistakes, and, best of all, she will never age. She’s coded to be perfect in every way.
Of course, the public comes to adore Simone in increasingly absurd ways, forcing Viktor to invent more and more outrageous cover stories to explain why Simone keeps to herself. Ironically, this also makes her come off as a cool, mysterious diva. Eventually, when Simone becomes even bigger than he imagined, Viktor tries to destroy her career by having her create the zoophilic “I Am Pig,” but the film is hailed as an auteurist piece of avant-garde cinema.
“S1m0ne” may be from 2002, but there are many parts that foretell how omnipresent AI would become in our lives, even at the movies.
S1m0ne foreshadowed Hollywood’s love affair with AI
“S1m0ne” teaches us that AI is an extremely powerful tool. Once you’ve opened that Pandora’s box, there’s no closing it. The public’s ravenous reaction to Simone, where they worship her every move and believe she can do no wrong, foreshadows how normalized and even beloved (if not addictive) AI would become. For many, it’s become difficult to remember a time when using AI wasn’t an option. College students can’t submit an essay without having ChatGPT write it for them, and distraught individuals are skipping therapy and having ChatGPT validate their feelings instead. The technology in “S1m0ne” was so advanced that no one could tell Simone wasn’t real. With the recent release of Google Veo 3, which can create high-quality, photorealistic videos out of thin air, we’re that much closer to being unable to distinguish what’s real from what’s computer-made.
Viktor’s use of Simone to make things easier for him foreshadows how Hollywood would also fall prey to the seductions of AI. Hollywood is a capitalistic machine like any other business, where even creatives are looking to save money or increase efficiency. While there aren’t full-fledged AI actors yet, we’ve already seen AI being used to bring performers back from the dead, like Peter Cushing in “Rogue One,” or de-age Pacino and Robert De Niro in “The Irishman.” Even Adrien Brody’s Oscar-winning performance in “The Brutalist” used AI to tweak his Hungarian language and accent. “Late Night with the Devil” similarly got roasted on Twitter/X for using an AI-generated intertitle.
S1m0ne was a warning that creativity should not be automated
Not to sound like a Boomer, but whatever happened to hard work? We admire cinema not only as an art form but also as a practical craft that requires tenacity and resourcefulness. Making mistakes and needing to figure out how to create a shot is what allows your creativity to blossom, not having a computer do it for you in milliseconds. Would Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” be half as terrifying if he didn’t have to build the shark? If de-aging technology existed for “The Godfather Part II,” we’d be subjected to an uncanny valley version of Marlon Brando rather than Robert De Niro’s quietly calculating performance as young Don Corleone (who, by the way, needed no enhancements on his Italian-language dialogue).
“S1m0ne” warned us that if we weren’t careful, everyone would fall under artificial intelligence’s spell — even Hollywood. In the 23 years since the film has been released, AI has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. Hopeful job candidates are being interviewed by AI avatars, fake news information floods social media pages, entirely AI-generated articles are replacing actual journalism, and middle-class jobs are being automated.
For some reason, the technocrats want AI to replace artists the most. Need to compose an advertising jingle? Use AI. Need a book cover designed? AI can do that in the blink of an eye. It’s demoralizing that our society is so intent on destroying artistry and that creative professionals and audiences are just lapping it up, just as “S1m0ne” cautioned us all those years ago. I’d rather have AI do the boring things like laundry or cleaning so I have time to make art — not the other way around. Instead, I fear that we’re getting closer and closer to the nuclear damage of another AI nightmare: “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
