The Sora Saga Has Only Just Started

A month ago, Greg Pilon, a 44-year-old visual effects artist on such films as “Deadpool 2,” thought he heard the tick-tock of a doomsday clock for his industry.

What set the gears in motion? His initial glimpse of Sora, OpenAI’s new text-to-video artificial intelligence tool, unveiled by CEO Sam Altman. In a 10-minute demo video, OpenAI showed the tool instantly spinning simple strings of words into realistic footage: a sweeping drone shot of the Amalfi Coast, a close-up of a man pondering his life at a Parisian cafe, a clip of a groovy kangaroo at a disco and many other scenarios.

Sora appeared far more advanced than any other generative AI video software, and while Pilon had figured it would take years before the other, cruder programs would endanger his livelihood, Sora sparked a fear of imminent obsoletion. “Well, I’m gonna get replaced in two years now,” he recalled thinking to himself.