Runway co-CEO says AI could replace human actors

Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-CEO of Runway, said AI could absolutely replace human actors and that the practice is already happening in a way, according to Variety. He made the remark during a fireside chat titled "Every Pixel Will Be Generated" at the View Conference in Turin, in response to an audience question about whether AI might one day take the place of actors.

Valenzuela framed AI as a new medium of expression and storytelling. He added that models will probably reach a point where they can be directed in a way similar to actors, though he said that is not the case now.

Nvidia's Richard Kerris, VP of developer relations and GM of media and entertainment, pushed back during the session, arguing that a moment of director-actor spontaneity — such as Marlon Brando improvising with a cat on the set of The Godfather — could never be produced by a prompt. Kerris said filmmaking still requires an understanding of character, composition and story, and that there is no "make movie button."

In a separate presentation titled "Creative Control in the Age of AI Agents," Nvidia principal technical evangelist for media Jeff Kember said many people use generative AI but do not talk about it because their legal teams stop them.

Asked about training data, Valenzuela said a core misbelief about AI is that it functions as some sort of database, and that models instead learn from representation.