Los Angeles

"Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson says he is not averse to AI in films as the technology is not very different from other special effects.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker said as long as permission is gained to use an actor's likeness, there shouldn't be an issue with the usage of technology, reported Variety.

But with AI getting popular, Jackson is worried that it will have an impact on actors working on motion-capture performances, like Andy Serkis as Gollum in his JJR Tolkein adaptations.

"I don’t dislike it at all. I mean, to me, it’s just a special effect. It’s no different from other special effects," the director said.

"If you’re doing an AI duplicate of somebody, like Indiana Jones or anyone else, as long as you’ve licensed the rights off the person who you’re showing, I don’t see the issue. It’s when people’s likenesses get stolen and usurped."

Jackson said the ongoing debate on AI will have an impact on people's perception of motion-capture performances, where actors record their movement in a specialised suits, which then turn the performance into 3D animated digital characters, prime example being Serkis' Gollum.

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"A lot of the current environment, everyone’s so worried about AI… I don’t think a Gollum-type character or a generated character has any hope for winning any awards," Jackson said.

"Which is a bit unfair, especially in the Andy Serkis case where it’s not an AI-generated performance, it’s a human-generated performance 100% of the way."