There are a lot of problems with generative AI. One of them is that it frequently hallucinates stuff and confidently submits it as fact. Another is that you might ask it to do one thing and then it starts doing a bunch of things you didn’t want it to do instead. For example, you might ask it to show subscribers to your streaming platform custom thumbnails that will make them more likely to engage with your content. But then, instead of pulling from a list of pre-approved images, it might start creating its own rogue nightmare fuel.
It’s impossible to say if that’s what is going on with a truly bizarre thumbnail of William Shatner as Captain Kirk for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on Paramount+. But then, how else to explain an apparently AI-generated image of Kirk wearing a suit and tie while fighting for his life aboard the USS Stargazer in one of the most classic sci-fi movies ever made?
Award-winning author and artist Ryan Estrada pointed out the peculiar image on Bluesky last night. “Paramount+ wanted to use the image on the left as a poster for the wrath of Khan, so they used everyone’s least favorite technology to generate the rest of the image,” he speculated. Users in the comments opened the app to go look and while some were served the existing box art for the movie, others got AI slop Kirk.
I went to go confirm this by opening up Paramount+ on my PlayStation 5 this morning and browsing through the sci-fi and fantasy section. Sure enough, Terminator Kirk was right there with his glowing red eye staring back at me. Is this truly a rogue AI trying to boost engagement on the fifth-place streaming service, or did someone play around with ChatGPT and then accidentally upload the wrong thumbnail?
Perhaps this is just the latest example of Paramount’s new owners trying to make the legacy Hollywood company into a more tech-forward business. “And we’ve also repeatedly said that we really need to become one of the most technologically capable media companies. We’re using technology to transform every single aspect of this business, and we’re going to rationalize the cost. And at the end of the day, we’re owner operators,” owner David Ellison recently told CNBC.
It would be one shockingly depressing thing if this contagion were isolated to Paramount, but with the impending Warner Bros. acquisition poised to skate through the regulatory process, it is guaranteed to spread to another entertainment and streaming giant. You thought the annual price hikes were bad, just wait until the product you’re paying for becomes enshittified top-to-bottom with AI junk. It’s time to start building that Blu-ray collection, folks.
