Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg spoke out against the use of AI technology when used in creative endeavors in an interview at the SXSW conference in Austin on Friday. Asked how he viewed AI’s utility as part of the filmmaking process, Spielberg said, “I’ve never used AI on any of my films yet,” to which the audience erupted with cheers and applause.
The director/producer/screenwriter, who became a household name for blockbusters like “Jaws,” “E.T.,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and many others, is not anti-technology, necessarily. His own films have imagined worlds filled with technology, for both good and bad, like “Minority Report,” “Ready Player One,” and, of course, “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” to name a few. They also, like “Jurassic Park,” caution what might happen if technologists were too preoccupied with whether or not they could do something that they didn’t stop to think if they should.
At SXSW 2026, Spielberg said he didn’t want to go on a rant about A.I., noting that he was for the technology “in many disciplines,” but in his writers’ rooms, even in TV, “there’s not an empty chair with a laptop in front of it.” Meaning, he’s not outsourcing creativity to the machine.
“I am not for AI if it replaces a creative individual,” he said.
Of course, someone like Spielberg may not need an AI assist. AI startups are pitching themselves to resource-constrained indie filmmakers. Elsewhere, big names in streaming are also looking to use AI. Amazon this year said it’s testing tools for AI in film and TV production, and Netflix earlier this month acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking company for a reported $600 million.