Why AI Won’t Replace Filmmaking, According To Vikrant Patankar

AI has gained growing traction in many different sectors, and the filmmaking industry is no exception. Tools done with this technology can not only generate rough concepts but also edit footage, clean audio, stabilize shots, and streamline post-production, allowing anyone to assemble a functional video.

But this new paradigm comes with clear trade-offs. While the output can be done quickly, it can also introduce generic visual patterns, low-fidelity imagery, and odd distortions that flatten the emotional impact audiences are used to getting from crafted work.

Vikrant Patankar has seen that tension as the founding filmmaker at Composio, where he studies how AI properly functions inside a product environment and where it can fall short. From that position, he argues the industry as a whole will have to deal with the growing divide between automated media and deliberate filmmaking — and learn to recognize that distinction as such.

Technology That Can Empower Instead Of Replacing Filmmakers

As founding filmmaker at Composio, a startup focused on building the main tech layer companies need to plug AI into their platforms, Patankar believes that, to properly contextualize the rise of this technology, there first needs to be a clear distinction between what the tools enable and what filmmaking ultimately requires.

From his perspective, AI continues a familiar pattern in which new and flashy services can, at first at least, open the door for more people to participate. The shift feels similar to the early DSLR boom, the arrival of mobile editing suites, and the expansion of creator platforms that encouraged them to further experiment and work on their style. These systems lower the cost of iteration and make it simple to generate drafts, mockups, and short-form clips that once required more skill or time.

But setting proper boundaries of how and when it’s used is a major factor in not making it feel like technology’s essentially usurping human savviness. In his view, the industry right now isn’t going through a moment of replacement but one of divergent viewpoints, as convenience-driven content and human-driven storytelling will move even further apart.

The Importance Of Human Presence

Patankar’s skepticism toward AI replacing storytelling sharpened during a night at the San Francisco Symphony. He recalls watching a modern animated film accompanied by a live orchestra, an experience that reminded him of how much real bodies in a real space can create a unique intensity when it comes to experiencing a work of art.

“If they're supposed to perform the score live, they could’ve easily done it with half the number of performers, without most of the audience even noticing any difference,” he later wrote on one of his social platforms. “Yet they chose to go full-blown. Because that’s what artists do.”

This is how he views the filmmaking process too, one where the process towards the end product matters as much as (if not more than) the end product itself. Working with ingenuity, following one’s own intuition, and having a willingness to follow a moment wherever it goes continue to define the craft. Generative systems can offer some assistance early on, but that should only be considered a starting point for human judgment to guide the project afterwards. “GenAI should get you started, not become the only way you create,” he says.

Seeing The Shift At Composio

Patankar sees this dynamic firsthand at Composio, where he’s granted access to a direct view of how this tech works behind the curtain. That proximity has shown him just how much AI still needs constant, deliberate human direction to stay coherent.

The technology, he realized, struggles to consider deeper storytelling nuances or complicated contextual meaning, creating friction in areas where filmmaking depends on precision. Those gaps become clear during his own workflow, where every script passes through engineers to confirm technical accuracy. “Before shooting, a developer has to proofread it so there’s no misalignment,” he says, noting how essential humans are to keep these systems useful.

To him, this shows how automation, despite potentially taking care of early, low-stakes tasks, can’t effectively replace the interpretive decisions that hold a story together.

Applying The Human Touch To His Own Work

His outlook shows up in the way he works at Composio, where he handles everything from brand films to product pieces across India and San Francisco.

His style is rooted in a run-and-gun approach that favors movement over meticulous control, letting the defining traits of the final product be built on quick decisions and whatever the environment offers. He calls this instinct a commitment to staying open to the moment, noting, “I’m a big believer in serendipity — I leave room for surprises.” That mindset allows unexpected details (light shifts, background actions, stray gestures) to guide the way scenes pan out in ways no system could pre-plan.

As a result, his shoots often gain a spontaneous texture that emerges only when reality is allowed to interfere. To him, that unpredictability carries an authenticity that AI, he believes, can’t reproduce.

Continuing To Bet On Human Storytelling

Patankar compares the current wave of AI-generated excitement to the NFT hype of a couple of years ago, a moment that, despite being controversial and heavily discussed early on, ultimately left little lasting cultural presence. The pattern, he argues, reflects how early enthusiasm can obscure the limits of what people actually value.

In his view, audiences may be drawn to automated videos, yet they continue to invest in work molded by human hands. That contrast, he believes, will make craft itself a premium experience as more and more synthetic content is created and distributed. “There’s always a “yet” in the world of arts,” as he said in his X account. “Art was never about efficiency. Art was always about doing things regardless.”

AI may be a serviceable tool to expand the filmmaking medium but, according to Vikrant Patankar, it will only lead to a discernible difference between disposable media and stories built with human ingenuity and intention. As he continues applying his skills at Composio, he aims to continue grounding his projects in the human-first ethos that guides his work.

BDG Media newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.