Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro would “rather die” than use artificial intelligence. The man is busy promoting his new film, Frankenstein, and at the same time talking about the pitfalls of AI.
He told NPR that his concern is not artificial intelligence but “natural stupidity”. “I think that's what drives most of the world's worst features. But I did want it to have the arrogance of Victor [Frankenstein] be similar in some ways to the tech bros. He's kind of blind, creating something without considering the consequences, and I think we have to take a pause and consider where we're going,” said the man who saw the 1931 movie Frankenstein as a child.
The 61-year-old said he hopes to remain “uninterested” in generative AI until he “croaks”.
His views on the technology haven’t changed over the years. Last year, during a talk at BFI in London, he said AI has demonstrated that it can do “semi-compelling screensavers”. “The value of art is not how much it costs and how little effort it requires; it’s how much you would risk to be in its presence? How much would people pay for those screensavers? Are they gonna make them cry because they lost a son? A mother? Because they misspent their youth? F**k no.”
And if we go back to 2023, he said AI-assisted animation is an “insult to life itself”, mirroring the words of legendary director Hayao Miyazaki.
In del Toro’s version of Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi plays the creature locked in a feud with his creator (played by Oscar Isaac). But it’s not a horror film; it’s more of a “layered family drama”.
Transformers director Michael Bay has also dismissed AI in an Instagram post in the past, writing that AI “doesn’t CREATE it just IMITATES. And will create a whole bunch of lazy people. So to all the Original Creators out there, have No Fear!”
