‘Where I don’t love AI is where there’s an empty chair at a writer’s table’

Steven Spielberg opens up about drawing the line between AI tools and creative storytelling

Steven Spielberg is the latest film personality to speak out against the use of AI, saying that while it is okay to use the technology like any other tool, it cannot be the final word on anything creative.

During an appearance on Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson’s IMO podcast, the legendary Hollywood director, known for movies such as Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List and Lincoln, said the technology can be useful in finding solutions to medical issues or scouting locations, but not in movie making. 

“Where I don’t love AI is where it takes a position or there’s an empty chair at a writer’s table,” Spielberg said. “I’m not willing to substitute, you know, because I don’t really believe in sentience. I don’t believe there is any substitute for the soul. I don’t think that is an algorithm that’s inventible… A computer that thinks it feels more than we feel is anathema to the way I was raised and how I’ll practice my own trade of producing and directing in the future.” 

The director said that he can see a future where AI can help “save us a lot of legwork”, but he is not willing to treat is beyond anything other than a tool. “Don’t tell me how to write my dialogue for this character. Don’t tell me where the camera has to go. And also don’t tell me what the set should look like, unless AI is simply a tool in a large tool chest of the production designer,” he added. “Use AI as a tool, but do not use AI as the final word on anything creative. That’s where I draw the line.”