OpenAI has revealed the debut of the first short films produced using its latest video AI tool, Sora, receiving accolades from filmmakers who describe the results as 'totally surreal.' Launched just last month, Sora has sparked excitement and concern regarding its capabilities, as early demonstrations showcased its enormous ability to transform written prompts into realistic video scenarios.

A select group of visual artists and directors granted early access to Sora are now realising its creative potential as Canadian production company Shy Kids used Sora to craft a short film featuring a man with a balloon head, highlighting the tool's capacity to go beyond realism and venture into the surreal realm.

OpenAl just released one of the first short films, "Air head", created by the artists Shy Kids using Sora Al pic.twitter.com/8WaVliT3ZR

According to multi-disciplinary artist Paul Trillo, Sora represents a liberation for filmmakers, eliminating constraints like time, budget, and skillset. He emphasises the tool's ability to bring forth new and previously unimaginable ideas, offering a new era of abstract expressionism.

'Sora is at its most powerful when you're not replicating the old but bringing to life new and impossible ideas we would have otherwise never had the opportunity to see.' said Paul Trillo after testing Sora's potential.

Despite its innovative potential, concerns have emerged regarding the potential misuse of Sora for creating deepfake videos and spreading misinformation. OpenAI acknowledges these risks and has employed measures, including competitive groups, called 'red teamers', to adversarially test the model and tools to detect misleading content to mitigate such misuse.

While safety measures exist for OpenAI's other products, including ChatGPT and DALL-E, which restrict certain types of content, other companies' unrestricted versions of similar technologies are available in the market. OpenAI's Sora remains in the research preview stage, emphasising the importance of ongoing dialogue between technology developers and creative professionals to leverage AI's potential in entertainment.