Director Neill Blomkamp has released a 13-minute sci-fi short film called Nightborne, which is loosely based on Peter Watts' 2014 novel Echopraxia. The short film is part of Blomkamp's new production company, Barley Studios, and features characters with AI-generated voices and faces modeled after human actors. The project marks a new venture for Blomkamp, who has previously directed films such as District 9 and Gran Turismo. The film's release is a significant development in the use of AI in the entertainment industry. This matters because it showcases the potential for AI to be used in creative storytelling and production.