Derry Shilitto has directed his passion for film-making into a more informative and political approach, risking certain parameters. He tells Journalist Haris Khawaja that he “made a film about AI within the justice system”after being commissioned to do it differently.
Derry was just teaching at a Nottingham film college during lockdown, like usual, when suddenly he encountered a problem far greater than students just messing around.
For the first time, he was aware of a certain danger greater than anything before, and realising that was a lot to process.
It struck him that the digital era is evolving so rapidly that we are moving too fast for our own good.
In an age where our dopamine receptors are drowning in new forms of stimuli and creativity is declining, there is another threat. The same threat that Derry felt in that classroom.
It was the arrival of AI.
And so, whilst the world looked at AI as an endless river of potential, everyday ease, and a new method of fast-paced information at the tap of your fingers, Derry paused and felt something different.
He felt a realisation flooding his mind with a frightening thought.
“What happens to the most vulnerable in society, when the most powerful embrace AI?”
After realising that this new form of technology was reshaping our lives at a significant rate, he picked up the camera, like it had become an extension of his mind.
That question, that grave question which lingered helplessly in Derry’s mind, would go on to become The Correction Unit.
The Correction Unit is a story which follows a group of young and troubled teenagers who are sent to an experimental rehabilitation facility instead of a juvenile prison.
In this centre, traditional figures of authority are replaced with nTrac, an augmented AI system which is voiced by acclaimed actor Bella Ramsey (The Last Of Us, Game Of Thrones). Although, at first, the friendliness of the AI draws in the offenders, the blur between fact/fiction, and freedom/control all start to raise questions.
Derry praises Bella’s performance as they “made nTrac personable and friendly… and brought a gravitas that made the character believable.”
This is essential for the movie as it perfectly depicts the issues surrounding something so powerful with such an innocent front.
Along with the film’s Midlands roots, with it embedded in Leicestershire and Nottingham, and which creates an atmosphere of “regional pride”, he says “thousands more watched the film because of Bella’s involvement.”
With Ramsey’s name attached, it also widens the bridge for independent creators working with more prestigious figures within the industry, a pathway for great opportunities for different demographics.
It has been positively received, including from reviewers.
Michael Sales from the Midlands Movies reviews gave it a 5/5, saying that it is a tremendous film which is, “anchored by wonderful performances from its large ensemble cast.”
It also enjoyed high ticket sales, movie premieres and even vast engagement on Amazon Prime.
Not just because of the brilliance of the film itself, with its high-budget sci-fi feel, surrounding real-life issues of real-life people; but also because of the strong story-telling and compelling cast.
Bella Ramsey themself says it “blew their mind hearing that some of them hadn’t acted before”, which goes to show that if you give opportunities to promising young actors, they will excel.
Although the main premise of the film is the significant impact that AI technology can have on anyone, it also explores those who are left dealing with the consequences.
“As a society, we are pursuing convenience and new technology, but we aren’t questioning the consequences.”
Shillitto is right.
These are real life issues that many people are facing today.
For instance, England’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer explicitly expressed that,“the actions of Grok and X are disgusting and they’re shameful… and that X has to act… or else OFCOM will introduce, and are introducing legislation.”
This comes after a large study found that users have been generating inappropriate images of minors and women using the app’s AI service, GROK.
These users were then left horrified at the thought of an AI which can easily create vile images of people and their kin, with zero repercussions and zero consequences, to accompany these heinous acts.
These long-term effects, without understanding the capabilities and potential risks, is also something Shillitto continuously explores within his film, and helps the story to progress into something greater.
“AI can be extremely beneficial to society if it is used correctly,” he states “but at the moment the people who are leading these developments are not acting with empathy.”
This is highlighted with Ziad Abaza’s “shady businessman” James Lee, who overlooks and runs nTrac.
It has traces of Elon Musk written all over him, and the actor does a phenomenal job in displaying the lack of empathy we see today by greedy, rich men.
But this vision was far from easy. As AI continues to progress, Shillitto’s film had hurdle after hurdle, being shot in fragments over the course of two years.
“I tried to find the money where I could,” he expresses disheartenedly. “It was the biggest challenge.”
As independent film-makers, finance is usually the biggest obstacle the cast and crew must face, but Derry succeeds, although at a cost, as he admits he’d “got into debt.”
But this allowed a new insight into the production, which relied now on creativity rather than scale and resources.
This can be seen through the various ways in which Derry and his team work under, such as using limited resources, equipment and other essential gear. It was full of guerilla tactics at times, which adds that finesse that many viewers admire and appreciate.
“Rather than moving the camera around, we had to keep moving the chair around… and have it look like we were getting different angles in the same scenes”.
This is also done by the team only being able to utilise one big lighting rig that came with the rented room, which shows that the production constantly needed to adapt.
There was no room for delays or messing up with the already limited budget on the line.
In a world where technology is advancing faster than ever before, the real danger might not be the machinery itself, but the people in charge.
The Correction Unit carefully demonstrates that, and perhaps we as a collective should take these warnings into account sooner rather than later.