At the Camden International Film Festival, the documentary capital, a group of documentary producers presented their best practice guidelines for the use of generative AI in non-fiction filmmaking, also announcing further training initiatives.
The Archival Producers Alliance (APA), founded in 2023 and comprised of more than 300 award-winning researchers, producers, and filmmakers, has outlined industry guidelines for the ethical use of AI in relation to the use of archival materials, such as historical photographs and video footage, commonly used in non-fiction filmmaking.
The group has already presented its guidelines in a working format, soliciting feedback from other documentary filmmakers, but now it presents its final recommendations. Among other points, best practices include a push for the use of primary source material, but, when AI is used, consideration for algorithmic bias, and the use of a watermark or other clear notice to the public when an image was generated using AI.
In addition to issuing the guidelines, the group announced a multi-year educational initiative that includes a series of conferences, panels, and workshops across the country that it hopes will help documentary filmmakers navigate ethically using new technologies. The initiative, which will also conduct real-world case studies on the use of generative AI in documentary, was launched with funding provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.
“Research has been an essential part of bringing the stories in my films to life. The work of the Archival Producers Alliance celebrates looking to the past while embracing today's technology. Their work will be an essential aid to filmmakers in a new era of storytelling,” Ken Burns said of the APA's work in a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter.
The APA guidelines have been endorsed by individual filmmakers like Burns, as well as organizations like the International Documentary Association, the Documentary Producers Alliance, and the Alliance of Documentary Editors.
“As documentary filmmakers who depend on the integrity of historical archives, and as mentors to younger filmmakers grappling with the threat – and potential – that generative AI presents to their work, we are grateful for these guidelines,” said Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith of Firelight Films (Miles Davis: The Birth of the Cool). “We are particularly encouraged by the attention given to algorithmic bias, which threatens to rewrite the past and foreclose possible futures when it comes to the representation of people of color.”