Darren Aronofsky’s AI-Generated American Revolution Series Sparks Outrage Over Historical Inaccuracies and Uncanny Visuals

Acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, known for cinematic masterpieces like Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and The Fountain, has partnered with tech giants Salesforce, TIME Studios, and Google’s DeepMind to create an almost entirely AI-generated drama series titled On This Day… 1776. The series, which explores the American Revolution, has already released its first two three-minute episodes on YouTube, but the reception has been anything but revolutionary.

AI Slop Reigns Supreme

The series has been met with widespread criticism, with viewers and historians alike pointing out glaring issues with historical accuracy and visual quality. Even the official trailer suffers from the typical pitfalls of AI-generated content, including uncanny facial features, scrambled text, and anachronistic details that break immersion.

Historian Mateusz Fafinski was quick to notice that the AI had botched the front page of Thomas Paine’s influential 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, mangling the text into incomprehensible gibberish. “Happy to see that there is no need to worry about the historical accuracy of new 1776 AI slop because it happens in the mystical land of Λamereedd,” Fafinski quipped on Bluesky, referring to the garbled letters visible in the teaser.

A Revolution in Poor Taste

The production’s disregard for historical authenticity extends beyond textual errors. Fafinski also observed that the pamphlets in the series appear “stained and foxed immediately after printing to look real and ‘old,'” a detail that undermines the credibility of the entire project.

Visual inconsistencies plague the series as well. Facial features are overly sharpened, teeth appear unnaturally white for the 18th century, and character renders resemble lower-budget video game characters. One AI-generated Benjamin Franklin looks more like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings than the Founding Father, as noted by PC Gamer.

Perspective Problems and Anachronisms

The AI’s struggle with perspective is evident in a scene where a group of people gathered on a distant hill appear to be over 12 feet tall when compared to a nearby building. Additionally, architectural details like “early American colonial vinyl siding” have drawn ridicule from viewers, highlighting the series’ anachronistic elements.

Industry Backlash

The backlash has been swift and severe. One Twitter user declared, “A director should completely lose their career for this. His Wikipedia should say former filmmaker from now on no matter what else he does.” Another mocked, “I hope the Google money was worth the reputational damage.”

Despite the criticism, Aronofsky hasn’t completely abandoned human involvement. The series features Screen Actors Guild-represented voice actors, and a human “post-production team” handled editing, mixing, and color grading. American film music composer Jordan Dykstra also contributed to the score.

The Future of AI in Hollywood?

TIME Studios president Ben Bitonti defended the project, stating, “This project is a glimpse at what thoughtful, creative, artist-led use of AI can look like — not replacing craft, but expanding what’s possible and allowing storytellers to go places they simply couldn’t before.”

However, the overwhelming negative response suggests that On This Day… 1776 is unlikely to be remembered as a groundbreaking achievement. Instead, it joins the growing list of embarrassing instances where respected filmmakers have compromised their craft for the sake of technological novelty.

Public Reaction

The public’s reaction has been scathing. Playwright Ashley Naftule, a self-proclaimed “lifelong Aronofsky skeptic,” tweeted, “As a lifelong Aronofsky skeptic, I’m feeling insanely vindicated right now.” A YouTube user lamented, “What a terrible time to have eyes.”

As the debate over AI’s role in creative industries continues, On This Day… 1776 serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of prioritizing technological gimmicks over artistic integrity and historical accuracy.

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