We’ve already seen AI writing movie scripts and some semi-ok prose, but Tony Kaye, the director who made the harrowing 1999 film American History X, is taking things a step further for artificial intelligence in the creative industry. The filmmaker intends to cast an AI actor as the lead in his new film.

As Deadline reports, Kaye is looking to cast a real robot that can be trained with different acting methods and techniques for his film 2nd Born. The movie will be a sequel to 1st Born, an upcoming comedy out this year directed by Ali Atshani and Sam Khoze, and starring Val Kilmer and Denise Richards. The first film chronicles the life of newlyweds struggling to get pregnant. 

Kaye is known best for directing American History X, which he tried to get his name removed from when he saw the final cut. He also made the abortion documentary Lake of Fire, a graphic and controversial film. He is reportedly working on a film titled Hollywhore, set in the era of #MeToo, and another movie about Steve Jobs. 

The 1921 film Mechanical Man was one of the first early 21st century films to centre on a robot. Alex Garland’s directorial debut Ex Machina (2015) saw Alicia Vikander play the smart Ava, and we’ve seen AI from Kubrick’s HAL to AI Artificial Intelligence’s David, and the Matrix’s terrifying agents on our screens.