5 Filmmakers Who Are Embracing AI — And 5 Who Are Strictly Against It

Artificial intelligence is the hot topic of discussion around the globe in almost every industry, and the filmmaking world is no different.

Over the past few years, the quality of AI content has undeniably improved. In my opinion, it’s still jarring and horrible to look at, and I truly wish people would stop using it to create uncanny valley-style images and films. But it’s almost definitely too late to put that particular genie back in the bottle now.

Some aspiring creatives seem to believe AI is a shortcut to success in the filmmaking process. Some big-name directors have even jumped on the bandwagon already. However, there are still plenty of other highly respected artists fighting back and refusing to embrace AI.

Here, we highlight five directors who have happily used AI to enhance their work, and five more who staunchly oppose introducing AI into their films.

Directors Who Are Embracing AI

Steven Soderbergh

Given the rate at which Steven Soderbergh releases movies – since 2020 he’s made seven feature films, a documentary, and worked on two TV shows – we probably shouldn’t be too surprised that he’s welcomed the use of AI to speed up the process. On his most recent project, John Lennon: The Last Interview, Soderbergh admitted he used AI to turn audio clips into visual elements in the documentary.

Speaking to AP News about why he turned to Meta tools to help, Soderbergh said: “I worked on everything that could be solved except that for as long as I could. Then there was the inevitable moment of, 'Okay, but really what are we going to do?' We just started playing and ran out of time and money. That’s where the Meta piece came in.”

It’s thought the tools contributed to around 10% of the final product, and Soderbergh said he expected some backlash, adding: “I understand why people have an emotional response to this subject… But yeah, you don’t say yes to Meta offering you these tools and offering to finish the film and not know you’re going to come in for some heat. That was part of the deal.”

Martin Scorsese

As perhaps the most legendary living director still working today, it did come as a bit of a shock to learn that Martin Scorsese was not only open to using AI but had partnered with a German firm (called Black Forest Labs) to advise them on how to use their tools to aid with storyboarding in the filmmaking process.

In a video where Scorsese uses the technology known as Flux, he said: “This conveys a cinematic intelligence.” Since then, in a statement (via LA Times), Scorsese added: “For 70 years, I’ve been creating my own storyboards. There’s always been this problem of how do you communicate what you see in your head to your cast and crew. There are some things you have to see and feel,” he said. “I’m interested in the intersection of technology and storytelling, and seeing how that can push the bounds of creativity to create deeper and richer experiences for audiences.”

Scorsese has not used AI in a film yet, but it sounds like it’s only a matter of time. We may not see it on-screen, but those tools will more than likely be present in the conceptualisation phase for Marty.

Darren Aronofsky

Taking it one step further, Darren Aronofsky (director of films like Black Swan and Caught Stealing) actually has his own creative studio through which he experiments with generative artificial intelligence. He also partnered with Google DeepMind to test out video models like Veo, and produced a short film called Ancestra using the technology.

Aronofsky has leaned into this new form of filmmaking more than most, after also producing a historical series called On This Day 1776 entirely using AI. Sharing his thoughts on the matter (via Deadline), Aronofsky said: “I was just blown away because I instantly realised that it was going to change everything that we do as filmmakers; it was going to have a huge impact. I wasn’t really sure what it would be, so I formed Primordial Soup because I wanted to be ready to somehow get involved.”

But Aronofsky is under no illusions as to the limitations of AI, adding: “It takes a tremendous amount of human labour and artistry and intention to make anything good with this technology.”

Robert Zemeckis

One filmmaker who I’m not at all surprised is embracing AI is Robert Zemeckis. The director has often experimented with unorthodox styles of animation, like in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Polar Express, the latter of which almost looks like an early AI movie anyway.

For his 2024 film Here, Zemeckis used AI from Metaphysic to de-age and age-up Tom Hanks and Robin Wright to tell a story set across 60 years. Zemeckis has defended his journey down this route, insisting that AI is not replacing actors; instead, it's just “really fast processing” by computers to aid him in certain filmmaking areas, comparing it to the rise of digital and electronic music.

Danny Boyle

Danny Boyle is one of the latest to add his name to the list of directors happy to experiment with AI. For his latest movie, Ink, Boyle confirmed a very small portion was created with the use of AI, saying: “There’s about 30 seconds of it in our movie where we animate a couple of old photographs. Oh, and there’s some mice. It’s very good for animals, and we had some mice that ran around The Sun newsroom."

Some who've seen the film early at the Venice Film Festival and Telluride suggested that AI may have also been used to reanimate images of the Kray Twins and Margaret Thatcher, and it appears that was indeed the case.

Directors Who Are Against the Use of AI

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro, master of the modern monster movie, is probably the strongest opponent to the rise of AI in filmmaking, and he has not been afraid to speak his mind. In one interview with No Film School, he said he would “rather die” than use AI, and he also called the technology an “insult to human life”.

The director of films like Pan’s Labyrinth and the Pinocchio remake has always been very vocal about his desire to protect the medium of film, from championing foreign language cinema to insisting animation is not an art form solely for children. Del Toro clearly feels generative AI demeans filmmaking itself. However, as he told Futurism, “My concern is not artificial intelligence, but natural stupidity.” If that’s not a damning message to those who have embraced AI, I don’t know what is.

Christopher Nolan

Given that Christopher Nolan is one of the most talented filmmakers around right now, we should probably listen to his views on artificial intelligence. The man behind the biggest movie of the summer, The Odyssey, is renowned for his passion for practical filmmaking, from crashing a real plane in Tenet to recreating a real atomic bomb (albeit a small one) for Oppenheimer; Nolan will never compromise.

On AI, Nolan said: “I think AI is a Trojan horse that everybody knows the Greeks are inside... It's a transparent horse; it's made of glass.” However, the director can see a direct correlation between those who accept AI and those who are tired of the slop already, telling The Guardian: “I've never seen a technology that's been so successfully adopted by Wall Street and by investors and by tech companies that the public has so thoroughly rejected.”

James Cameron

Like Nolan, it’s safe to say that James Cameron has earned the right to be heard when it comes to what’s the best way to make movies – after all, he’s made three of the top five highest-grossing movies of all time (Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Titanic). In Cameron’s eyes, the use of AI will inevitably lessen the quality of filmmaking, and the technology can never replace human creatives. 

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “Generative AI performance puts all human experience into a blender." He even went as far as to describe those performances as “horrifying.” However, it is worth noting that Cameron is on the board of Stability AI, though his role there is specifically to help establish rules and regulations regarding the technology in the movie industry.

Kane Parsons

New kid on the block Kane Parsons made waves with his feature debut, Backrooms, earlier this year, and he said all the right things during his press tour, too. The 20-year-old is firmly against the use of AI, insisting he would never use the technology in his work as it takes away all the fun of filmmaking.

In an interview with Variety, Parsons said: “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would.” He also claimed the rise of generative AI was more linked to economic and cultural decline than being representative of any kind of innovation. He added: “Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.” 

Steven Spielberg

It figures that Steven Spielberg, who directed the 2001 movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, a film all about the perils of a world reliant on technology and machines, would be against using actual AI in his movies. He’s not totally opposed to it, though, insisting that it can be useful as a background tool to help make processes more efficient, but drawing the line at AI ever taking the place of humans in the creative process. 

In a piece by Variety, Spielberg said: “Where I don't love AI is where it takes a position, or there's an empty chair at a writer's table… I don't believe there is any substitute for the soul.” The veteran filmmaker admits he has used and would use AI to support his work, but explained: “Use AI as a tool, but do not use AI as the final word on anything creative. That's where I draw the line.”