An artificially intelligent robot named Erica has been cast to star in a new $70 million sci-fi movie, titled b. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be the first to feature a leading AI actor.
b is backed by Bondit Capital Media, Happy Moon Productions, and Ten Ten Global Media. The story for the picture comes from visual effects supervisor Eric Pham, Tarek Zohdy, and Sam Khoze, centering around a scientist who plans an escape for an AI woman he created, after learning his program to perfect human DNA is volatile.
Erica, the AI robot, was created in real life by Japanese scientists Hiroshi Ishiguro and Kohei Ogawa. They designed her so that she would be capable of method acting.
“In other methods of acting, actors involve their own life experiences in the role. But Erica has no life experiences. She was created from scratch to play the role,” Khoze said. “We had to simulate her motions and emotions through one-on-one sessions, such as controlling the speed of her movements, talking through her feelings and coaching character development and body language.”
It remains to be seen who will co-star alongside Erica in b, and who will direct the movie. For more on the upcoming sci-fi film, visit The Hollywood Reporter.
