GOOGLE-BACKED FILM PRESENTS A SOFTER AI

‘Sweetwater’ is latest project from Silicon Valley giant and Santa Monica firm to change negative narrative around tech

- Queenie Wong and Wendy Lee

KYRA SEDGWICK, left, plays the resurrected mother of Michael Keaton's character in "Sweetwater."

Hollywood is reckoning with similar questions as storytellers bring up fears about copyright violations, compensation and the risk of AI competing with actors, writers and artists for work.

Technology has made it possible to bring back actors, writers and musicians from the dead in digital form. Some people already use chatbots like therapists.

Tech companies such as Google that provide AI assistants and products to generate images, text and video market their tools as a way to help creative people, not replace them.

Google’s AI products don’t appear in the “Sweetwater” film, although the company does have a holographic 3D communication technology called Google Beam that uses Al.

Consumers are split on whether AI will help or harm creativity, according to a report from the Pew Research Center. Roughly 53% think AI will worsen people's ability to think creatively, while 16% say increased use of AI will make this better.

Others aren't sure or thought it would be neither better nor worse.