"Looks a lot worse" or "Looks better" is an aesthetic judgement so confuses the discussion here.
But what you're actually doing here is agreeing with me. Movies whose intent is specifically to deliver on spectacle -- i.e. the big blockbusters like GotG or Star Wars -- are specifically trying to push the limits of what their financing can deliver for the aesthetic tastes of their current audience. That means competitively throwing piles of money at creative talent and asking them to produce their best ever work.
While using generative AI to trim costs on some non-spectacular supplementary stuff or noisy, brief background stuff can make more budget available for the spectacle, the goal is to spend as much as possible on the spectacle, not cut its costs.
Not every part of these blockbusters is pushing the limits of what's possible, even for spectacle. Studios are quite happy to leave a lot of things as they've previously managed because it's good enough.
But what you're actually doing here is agreeing with me. Movies whose intent is specifically to deliver on spectacle -- i.e. the big blockbusters like GotG or Star Wars -- are specifically trying to push the limits of what their financing can deliver for the aesthetic tastes of their current audience. That means competitively throwing piles of money at creative talent and asking them to produce their best ever work.
While using generative AI to trim costs on some non-spectacular supplementary stuff or noisy, brief background stuff can make more budget available for the spectacle, the goal is to spend as much as possible on the spectacle, not cut its costs.