Spielberg Draws Line on AI in Filmmaking

When Steven Spielberg directed the film "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," the technology was still the stuff of science fiction. It served as a device to explore the ethical implications of creating sentient machines. Now, as AI has become a concrete reality in Hollywood, Spielberg has drawn a firm line in the sand.

"I don't want AI making any creative decisions that I can't make myself," Spielberg stated in an interview with Reuters. "And I don't want to use AI as a non-human collaborator in trying to work out my creative thinking."

Spielberg's stance was shared during a ceremony dedicating the Steven Spielberg Theater on the Universal Studios lot. The event honored the director's decades-long relationship with the studio, which has produced iconic films such as "Jaws," "Jurassic Park," "Schindler's List," and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

The acclaimed director humorously recounted how his career at Universal began in 1967, when he took a tour of the lot as a high school student. He hid in the bathroom during a break, waiting for the tour to move on, and then had the entire lot to himself for the day.

"Our hope and dream is that it's not just the place founded on his extraordinary legacy," said Donna Langley, chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios. "But it is the place of future hopes and dreams of filmmakers and storytellers who are going to take this company into the next 100 years and the 100 years after that, people who come with a hope and a dream, people who have been inspired by Steven."

Spielberg's 2001 film "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" was a meditation on love, loss, and the essence of humanity, seen through the eyes of a discarded humanoid robot. In this Pinocchio-like journey set in a futuristic dystopia, the android boy David yearns to be human, searching for love in a world of machines and artificial intelligence. The film hit screens when AI was still in its nascent stages, pre-dating the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT by 21 years.

"It wasn't about artificial intelligence as much as it was about sentient existence, and can you love a sentient entity? Can a mother love a robot child?" Spielberg reflected. "It was not really where AI is taking us today. Eventually, there will be a convergence between AI and robotics."

Spielberg acknowledges that AI can be a powerful tool if used responsibly and morally, such as in medical research to find cures for diseases. However, he draws a line when it comes to AI making creative decisions.

"It's not a line of cement, it's just a little bit of line in the sand, which gives me some wiggle room to say that I have the option to revise this thinking in the future," he explained. "But right now, I don't want AI making any creative decisions."

The director has seen firsthand how technology can replace human talent, recalling his experience working on the 1993 film "Jurassic Park." Initially, he planned to use stop-motion clay animation artist Phil Tippett to create the dinosaurs. However, visual effects artist Dennis Muren proposed an alternative method using computer-generated imagery (CGI) to create realistic dinosaurs. This shift made certain careers somewhat extinct, a sensitivity Spielberg carries into his views on AI.

Spielberg has yet to use AI on any of his films, though he is open to its potential applications behind the scenes, such as in budgeting or planning. "I don't want to use it in front of the camera right now. Not quite yet," he concluded.