Bong Joon Ho Jokes About Destroying AI, Celine Song Echoes Guillermo del Toro’s Disgust at Marrakech Film Festival
Bong Joon Ho took a characteristically radical approach when questioned on his thoughts around the rise of AI technology at the jury press conference of the Marrakech Film Festival on Saturday.
The Korean director, who is president of the jury, gave two responses, one measured, the other deeply personal.
“My official answer is, AI is good becuase it’s the very beginning of the human race finally seriously thinking about what only humans can do. But my personal answer is, I’m going to organize a military squad, and their mission is to destroy AI,” he said.
Joon Ho was joined on stage by jury members Celine song, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jenna Ortega, Karim Aïnouz, Hakim Belabbes, Julia Ducournau and Payman Maadi.
Past Lives director Song gave a longer answer in which she endorsed recent comments by Guillermo del Toro on his rejection of AI technology.
“To quote Guillermo del Toro, who will be here at this festival, ‘Fuck AI’… the way that it is completely destroyed the planet… the way that it is completely colonizing our minds in the way that we encounter images and sound, I’m very concerned about it,” she said.
“The number one thing that we’re here to defend as artists is humanity… We’re here not to think about makes human life easy, what makes it convenient, but what it’s like to actually live.”
Song brought up TV show Severance about the employees of a biotech firm who have undergone a procedure that severs their personal memories from their work ones.
“Severance is one of the best documents about the way that AI is completely taking over what is beautifully difficult about human life… the thing I’m actually more worried about than anything, is the way that it is trying to encroach on what
Filmmakers Voice Concerns Over AI’s Impact on Creativity and Cultural Heritage
A panel of filmmakers recently expressed a range of concerns regarding the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the film industry and the broader creative landscape. From fears of artistic homogenization to accusations of a new form of colonialism, the discussion highlighted a complex debate about the role of AI in storytelling.
One actress, speaking at the event, likened the current situation to “a Pandora’s Box.” She expressed hope that audiences would eventually tire of AI-generated content and return to valuing authentic human creations. “There’s certain things that AI just isn’t able to replicate, and yes, there’s gorgeous, difficult mistakes, and a computer can’t do that.A computer has no soul, and it’s nothing that we would ever be able to resonate with or relate to,” she stated. She envisioned a future where AI-generated content becomes “mental junk food,” ultimately leading audiences to crave the unique qualities of human-made art.
Moroccan director Belabbes raised concerns about the origins of the data used to train AI models,framing their use as a new form of colonialism. “The models thay use in AI don’t belong to me.They’re not mine. I have to create my own worlds… otherwise it’s just a new form of colonialism. It’s the whitewashing of our heritage,” he explained.
These concerns were echoed by Song, who noted a perception within the AI community that filmmakers could be influenced – or even “bought” – to create work tailored to algorithms driven by capitalist and imperialistic agendas. She suggested this could lead to a narrowing of perspectives and a loss of cultural diversity in filmmaking.
However, not all filmmakers view AI with solely negative sentiment. french director Julia Ducournau acknowledged the benefits of AI as a tool,specifically citing its use in CGI for her latest film,Alpha. She emphasized, however, that AI should remain a tool to assist human creativity, not replace it. “I really believe that at no point should AI take over human work and human interaction. I cannot have an artistic dialog with AI. I can have an artistic dialog with my CGI supervisor in the way we’re going to use that tool. I think that it should just remain a tool,” Ducournau said. She also stated that using AI solely to reduce costs and eliminate jobs would be “wrong and immoral.”
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