The Future of AI-Driven Cinema: A Satirical Take on the Apocalypse by a Creator Named Josh

The AI consistently misfired. In one instance, Tiggy appeared inexplicably muscular. In another, his back looked excessively dry. When the filmmaker instructed a particular software to give the back of Tiggy’s head “frog-like skin,” it instead overlaid an entire frog’s face. The AI seemed hesitant to show Tiggy nude, despite him not wearing any clothes. When the director requested a “short shirtless alien,” he received an error message, likely due to the software’s restrictions. “It was probably because I used the word shirtless,” he speculated.

Discussions around AI often swing between extremes: either we’re doomed or it’s just a fad. Observing the filmmaker engage with AI software—iced coffee in the morning, casual brown hair and beard—is far quirkier and less dramatic than that narrative suggests. It resembles a glimpse into a puppy training session. The tools frequently misinterpret commands, making strange choices or completely straying off track. Yet, with diligence and patience, he manages to guide them, ultimately producing eight minutes of intricately scripted original television.

In this instance, those eight minutes marked the latest episode in the sci-fi cinematic realm the filmmaker has developed under the title Neural Viz. The initiative began in 2024 with a mockumentary web series called Unanswered Oddities, a talking-head TV program set in a future where Earth is inhabited by beings known as glurons, who ponder in Ancient Aliens–style about their human ancestors. Each episode delves into a different (and humorously mispronounced) element of “hooman” society, such as America, exercise, or the NFL. Initially, it appeared to be a humorous, self-contained segment.

However, the universe, referred to as the Monoverse, began to grow. Neural Viz produced episodes of various series from the same gluron TV network, Monovision: a documentary crime series and a UFC-style show focused on bug fights. Next came podcasts and street interviews. Subplots and narratives began to unfold across the videos, with romances developing, religious cults lurking, and grainy archived footage revealing the true events that led to humanity’s demise. Before long, the filmmaker had created an entire universe complete with its own language, characters, and mythology, all crafted with AI.