Steven Spielberg Reveals Where 'I Draw the Line' When It Comes to Using AI in Filmmaking

Tommy McArdleThu, May 28, 2026 at 4:28 PM UTC

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Steven Spielberg at the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 11, 2026
Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic -

Steven Spielberg said in a new interview that he is opposed to using AI as anything more than "a tool in a large tool chest" that filmmakers have at their disposal

The Film Academy announced on May 1 that it changed requirements for its acting and screenwriting categories to ensure that AI-assisted performances and screenplays would not be considered eligible for the Oscars

Spielberg's new movie Disclosure Day is in theaters June 12

Steven Spielberg is explaining his stance on the use of artificial intelligence in his filmmaking career.

Spielberg, 79, appeared on the Wednesday, May 27 episode of Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson'sIMO podcast as he promoted his new movie Disclosure Day. "Well, I'm kind of withholding judgment on AI until I see really how it is being used," the famed director said, after Obama, 62, noted his 2001 blockbuster A.I. Artificial Intelligence and asked him "what kind of crystal ball" he used to make the movie.

While Spielberg noted that he believes the development of artificial intelligence can be used as an effective tool "that can create and find solutions to medical issues" and in education, he said he is uninterested in utilizing artificial intelligence programs for creative practices.

“Where I don't love AI is where it takes a position, or there's an empty chair at a writer's table, and there's six writers and an empty chair and there's a computer in front of the empty chair and it is the seventh writer," he said. "I'm not willing to substitute, you know, because I don't really believe in its sentience. I don't believe there is any substitute for the soul. I don't think that is an algorithm that's inventible, if there is such a word."

"I think 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," Spielberg added.

Steven Spielberg at the 98th Oscars on March 15, 2026
Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty

"I don't want AI involved in that way. If AI wants to help me find locations, that's great. Saves us all a lot of legwork. But don't tell me that I don't have the right antagonist in this movie," he continued. "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 and just one of many tools the production designer uses..."

"Use AI as a tool, but do not use AI as the final word on anything creative. That's where I draw the line,” the Academy Award winner concluded.

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Spielberg is just the latest in a chorus of voices in Hollywood that have sounded off on how the entertainment industry should approach the use of AI in recent months.

At the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, Demi Moore emphasized that she believes artificial intelligence can never create works that "never replace what true art comes from," though she did advocate for utilizing it. Seth Rogen, meanwhile, asserted that AI-generated video content he has seen on social media "is like the most stupid dog s--- I've ever seen in my life" in a separate interview at the French film festival.

“If your instinct is to use AI and not go through that process, you shouldn't be a writer," Rogen, 44, added, regarding people who use AI to write movies or television shows. " 'Cause then you're not writing. Go do something else.”

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Steven Spielberg on March 15, 2026
Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty

On May 1, the Film Academy announced that it has changed requirements for its acting and screenwriting categories to ensure that AI-assisted performances and screenplays would not be considered eligible for Academy Awards.

Spielberg's own movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence famously starred Haley Joel Osment as a robotic child programmed with the ability to love who is paired with a human family and seeks to become "real." The movie takes place in the 22nd century and also features Frances O'Connor, Jude Law, Sam Robards and William Hurt in its cast.

The legendary director's next movie Disclosure Day, which stars Josh O'Connor and Emily Blunt, is in theaters June 12.

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