AI robot Erica to take lead in USD 70 million sci-fi movie

A $70 million USD movie called b has reportedly cast its lead role to an artificially intelligent robot named Erica. Amid the COVID pandemic,  this AI robot, named Erica, will be seen as the lead actor in a USD 70 million science fiction film, which producers say will be the first to rely on an artificially intelligent actor.

The filming of the movie began in 2019 in Japan, and shoot is expected to continue till June 2021 in Europe. However, the director of b and the robot’s human co-star have yet to be confirmed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bondit Capital Media, which financed titles such as 'To the Bone' and the Oscar-nominated 'Loving Vincent', Belgium-based Happy Moon Productions and New York's Ten Ten Global Media, have committed to back 'b.'

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The movie revolves around the story of a scientist who discovers dangers associated with a program he created to perfect human DNA and then eventually helps the artificially intelligent woman he designed (Erica) escape. The visual effect supervisors will be- Eric Pham, Tarek Zohdy, and Sam Khoze, and is bankrolled through Life Entertainment.

As per international media, Japanese scientists Hiroshi Ishiguro and Kohei Ogawa, who created Erica in real life as part of their study of robotics, also taught her to act, applying the principles of method acting to artificial intelligence, according to Khoze.

"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. 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," the publication quoted Khoze as saying.

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The original debut for Erica was initially a different project that was slated to be directed by Tony Kaye, but producers parted with Kaye over scheduling. However, the director of 'b' and the human co-star for Erica are not yet attached, but producers filmed some of her scenes in Japan in 2019. They expect to shoot the rest of 'b' in Europe in June next year.

(With inputs from ANI)

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