I’m not a fundamentalist when it comes to the use of AI in art. 

I support the labor replacement concerns, and I shan’t shed a single tear if AI never reared its amorphous head in art again. 

But I don’t categorically hate ALL appearances of AI, especially if the AI is intended to be recognized as AI for artistic purposes. 

Case in point: the final shot of The Shrouds. David Cronenberg’s new movie feels like it ends in the middle of the story, but perhaps its concluding image provides a subtle indicator of what to make of the abrupt irresolution. 

By the time the credits roll, the protagonist — and the audience — find ourselves so deep in an ever-complicating plot that it’s almost impossible to know for sure what the heck is going on. The technology he invented has been co-opted by forces beyond his control, a blurry combination of shadowy governmental agencies, technocrats, hackers, and maybe even sentient AI? The last frame shows him private-planing off to a future defined by his technology run amok beyond his — and our — comprehension.

As such, it seems fitting that this final shot — of the plane flying through clouds — is entirely CGI, or maybe even AI. The visuals match the narrative, in the sense that his world has become defined by technology, whether manned or algorithmic.