ALIEN: ROMULUS Director Confirms AI Tech Was Used for Surprise Cameo and Explains It Wasn't Convenient

Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez and producer Ridley Scott have confirmed that they used AI technology for one particular element in the film, and they defend their decision. Spoilers ahead!

If you’ve seen Alien: Romulus, then you know it includes a synthetic that resembles the franchise’s original android Ash in Aline played by the late Ian Holm.

Scott said: "Ian Holm suddenly appearing as a company on-board robot was a great idea.” And it was, but it would’ve been better had the VFX worked.

During an interview with The LA Times, Alvarez explained how they brought this android to life, saying: "We were not trying to do what can’t be done, which is to reproduce that person’s talent as an actor, because this is another character. The only thing they have in common is the likeness."

Bringing the characters to life was a mix of animatronics paired with CGI facial enhancements. The director went on to say: “It was 80 to 90% done by the puppeteers depending on the shot, so that the animatronic had a little more life".

As for the use of AI, Alvarez defended the decision to use it, but doesn’t think it will ever replace actors. He said: "We had an actor who was on the set, who worked on the dialogue.

"It’s not like we skipped hiring an actor. Doing it this way requires a team of so many people and so many parts to get it done that it’s never going to be really convenient."

I have to say, whenever the Android Rook was on screen, it was very distracting because the visual effects work did not look good, especially when the character talked.

That was the roughest part of the film for me. We all know that the visual effects could’ve been done so much better, so I’m not sure why they couldn’t nail this one. Everything else in the movie was great!