Amateurism (e.g., hobbyist and do-it-yourself making) has long helped human-computer interaction (HCI) scholars map alternatives to status quo technology developments, cultures, and practices. Following the 2023 Hollywood film worker strikes, many scholars, artists, and activists alike have called for alternative approaches to AI that reclaim the apparatus for co-creative and resistant means. Towards this end, we conduct an 11-week diary study with 20 amateur filmmakers of 15 AI-infused films, investigating the emerging space of generative cinema as a critical technical practice. Our close reading of the films and filmmakers’ reflections on their processes reveal four critical approaches to negotiating AI use in filmmaking: minimization, maximization, compartmentalization, and revitalization. We discuss how these approaches suggest the potential for underground filmmaking cultures to form around AI with critical amateurs reclaiming social control over the creative possibilities.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713342
The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (https://chi2025.acm.org/)