Top movie directors are rejecting AI. Here’s what they’re worried about.

Guillermo del Toro stated AI might forestall future filmmakers from mastering their craft.

On the 2026 San Diego Comic Con, which ran from Thursday via Sunday, the Mexican director stated the 3D rerelease of “Pan’s Labyrinth” was created via a handbook conversion course of.

“Clearly, I stated, ‘Completely no goddamn AI,'” del Toro stated.

He stated he did not thoughts the added value of the handbook strategy, which concerned about 1,000 artists rotoscoping the movie.

“What we’re defending is the wonder and the redeeming energy of artwork. It is not about who will get the job. We’re defending a lineage of artwork. If we reduce a era of individuals from studying their craft, you are reducing the remainder of the historical past of that medium away from them, for what?” del Toro stated.

Somewhat than choosing the quickest strategy, del Toro stated he prioritized high quality.

“You need to put in time. You roto each component by hand. A human-made choice of depth,” he stated.

Christopher Nolan stated folks needs to be simply as skeptical of AI’s creators as they’re of the know-how itself.

In a July 14 dialog with YouTuber HugoDécrypte, Nolan known as AI “a Malicious program that everyone is aware of the Greeks are inside.”

“I’ve by no means seen a know-how advancing so quickly, so utterly rejected by the general public,” Nolan stated.

He added that he has been struck by the extent of public skepticism towards AI, significantly among the many youthful era, who’ve popularized the time period “AI slop.”

Nolan stated he welcomed that skepticism, arguing that whereas know-how can deliver “nice items,” it ought to all the time be approached with warning.

“The motives of the folks giving it to us additionally need to be seen with skepticism. That is after we’ll get one of the best out of a brand new know-how, somewhat than simply blind religion that all the things’s going to be nice,” Nolan stated.

Nolan is understood for favoring actual stunt work, sensible results, and in-camera methods over in depth CGI. His newest movie, “The Odyssey,” follows that custom and has grossed over $639 million worldwide since its July 17 launch, per Box Office Mojo.

Steven Spielberg stated he attracts the road at utilizing AI to interchange human creativity.

“I’ve by no means used AI on any of my movies but,” the filmmaker stated on the 2026 SXSW conference, which was held in Austin in March.

“Even tv, we’ve a author’s room. All of the seats are occupied. There’s not an empty chair with a laptop computer in entrance of it,” Spielberg stated. “I have never used AI that manner.”

The filmmaker added that he is not utterly in opposition to the know-how, saying he’s “for AI in many various disciplines.”

“I’m not for AI that replaces a inventive particular person,” Spielberg stated.

Tim Burton stated seeing AI-generated art work in his signature model left him deeply unsettled.

In 2023, Burton shared his ideas on BuzzFeed utilizing AI to create Disney characters in his distinctive style.

“I can not describe the sensation it offers you. It jogged my memory of when different cultures say, ‘Do not take my image as a result of it’s taking away your soul,” Burton instructed The Impartial.

Though Burton stated a few of the AI-generated pieces had been “superb,” he discovered it unsettling to see a machine recreate his visible model.

“It is like a robotic taking your humanity, your soul,” he stated.

Bong Joon Ho, the Oscar-winning director of “Parasite,” has a tongue-in-cheek answer for AI: wipe it out.

“My official reply is, AI is sweet as a result of it is the very starting of the human race lastly severely occupied with what solely people can do. However my private reply is, I will set up a navy squad, and their mission is to destroy AI,” Bong stated on the 2025 Marrakech Movie Pageant, per Deadline.

Celine Song stated artists have a accountability to defend what makes us human.

Talking on the 2025 Marrakech Movie Pageant, per Deadline, the “Previous Lives” director stated she is “very involved” about the best way AI is “making an attempt to encroach” on the experiences that make life each stunning and worthwhile.

“The primary factor that we’re right here to defend as artists is humanity,” Music stated. “We’re right here not to consider what makes human life straightforward, what makes it handy, however what it is like to really dwell.”