How AI gives birth to a new team of prompt engineers in Indian cinema

Its clear that Artificial Intelligence AI is here to stay On Friday ChatGPT creator Sam Altman met PM Narendra Modi during the Digital India Dialogues in Delhi to discuss the potential of the revolutionary technology for India Around the same time Prasanth Varma wrapped up work on his Telugu superhero film HanuMan which could be the first Indian film to have flirted with AI tools using a techie they call prompt engineer Varma tells midday that he first realised the power of AI and what it could do to help the filmrsquos team when he was designing the posterNow considered one of the most coveted tech jobs prompt engineering refers to the task of training or talking to a generative AI tool like ChatGPT Midjourney or Google Bard to get a result closest to what we envision This at the moment is not always correct or appropriate and until programmes get better at anticipating what users need itrsquos likely that prompt engineers will prove to be a vital linkThese posters for the Telugu superhero film HanuMan were created when prompt engineers communicated with AI tools like ChatGPT and MidjourneyVarma and his team at the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe in Hyderabad used Midjourney which generates images from natural language descriptions called ldquopromptsrdquo to design HanuManrsquos poster The creative shows a man standing on a rock high up in the mountains surrounded by a surreal yellow light This precise and spectacular implementation prompted Varma to incorporate AI prompt engineers into his team to harness the power of AI technologyVarma is no stranger to largerthanlife creations He gained recognition in 2018 with his debut film Awe a science fiction multigenre film that received accolades including National Awards for outstanding visual effects and makeup He has since released the zombie comedy Zombie Reddy and scifi romance Adbhutham both in 2021 But with HanuMan Varma wants to credit AI and those working with it ldquoI have worked as a ghost writer on too many films I was neither paid nor creditedrdquo he says ldquoI want to create a talent pool that allows us to collaborate on AIrdquoThe AI prompt engineer team at work at Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe in HyderabadThrough an Instagram post Varma had announced that he is hiring AI prompt engineers for his production team ldquoI started using Chat GPT and Midjourney when hardly anyone was hererdquo he claims ldquoI remember chatting with Ram Gopal Varma about how scripting modules could change Generative AI is the next big thing There is no fighting it so we might as well align with it People are unhappy about the possibility of AI taking over their jobs and making them redundant Instead producers creators and writers should see how it can aid our creative processrdquoAfter HanuMan he has moved onto the second installment in the series this one based on Lord Ram A team has been formed headed by prompt engineer Rama Krishna aka RK RK along with Varma engages with advanced software applications including Midjourney Dalle and ChatGPT4 to finetune the prompts enabling them to generate superior content in exact line with their vision and one that supports the work of writers and artistesFor the filmrsquos poster which depicts Hanuman with an image of Ram and Sita in his heart the prompts given were ldquoImagine HanumanIndian Monkey God kneeling with left leg lunging ahead tearing open his chest create a sepia toned palace courtyard followed by an animated picture of Ram Lakshman and Sitardquo These were then assembled on Adobe FireflyThe role of a prompt engineer is then to act as a link between the illustrator or writer and the AI system involved The collaborative process involves three teams prompt engineers writers and the design team The writer provides the content the design team shares their work and requests adjustments or enhancements and the prompt engineer team acts as intermediaries to communicate with the AI systems RK quotes his idol AI pioneer Eliezer Yudkowsky when he says ldquoAnything that could give rise to smarterthanhuman intelligencemdashin the form of Artificial Intelligence braincomputer interfaces or neurosciencebased human intelligence enhancementmdashwins hands down beyond contest as doing the most to change the world Nothing else is even in the same leaguerdquoVarma is clear though that the overall creative output will be enhanced not at the expense of writers and designers ldquoAs creators we should know how to talk to AI as wellrdquo says RK This team will keep us updated about the latest trends in generative AI and how we can utilise them to improve the creative side of our workrdquo Varma adds that the work of the AI team is not restricted to storytelling ldquoIt starts there but AI can aid almost every aspect of filmmaking We are already using it extensively in animation music and writing In fact we created a character entirely using AI for HanuMan and then used 3D modelling to round off the final look We are a traditional moviemaking country Despite the melodrama and dance numbers in our films I see technology aiding the process of crafting the narrative AI will adapt faster to us than we will adapt to AIrdquoIn fact he wonders if a day will come when ldquoyou ask AI to play a movie with your favourite actor in your favourite genre directed by your favourite director with your favourite music composerrsquos score andhellip tadardquo