Synthetic Sincerity

In his entertaining film, Marc Isaacs (The Filmmaker's House) makes a deal with The Synthetic Sincerity Lab, an AI research project affiliated with the University of Southern England. There, researchers are investigating the possibility of teaching AI characters authenticity, using characters from Isaacs’ documentaries to do so. In return, they allow Isaacs to film the process.

An AI character, created in collaboration with Romanian actress Illinca Manolache, guides him through this complex research world and sternly instructs him how to behave there. Isaacs films the work of the rebellious AI researcher Lynn, and follows an Uyghur chef who puts himself forward as a subject of study. Can this chef, in AI form, put into words what he is unable to express as a human being?

Isaacs’ innovative narrative gradually blurs the line between fact and fiction.Synthetic Sincerity explores the relationship between humans and machines through a blend of documentary, fictional scenes, and gently absurd humor. How does the development of AI influence the way we look at human faces? And how might this technology affect cinema in the future?