Steven Spielberg slams AI replacing writers and creativity in filmmaking; says, 'I don't believe there is any substitute for the soul'

“I don't believe there is any substitute for the soul”: Steven Spielberg slams AI replacing writers and creativity in filmmaking

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has called out the use of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, adding that he doesn't want it to take over the creative process in Hollywood.

During his recent appearance on Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson's 'IMO' podcast, Spielberg shared, "Where I don't love AI is where it takes a position or there's an empty chair at a writer's table. 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 'Jaws' director noted how AI can help "save us a lot of legwork" by performing a few tasks like scouting locations.

"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. Use AI as a tool, but do not use AI as the final word on anything creative. That's where I draw the line," he added.

Steven Spielberg is among the rare Hollywood figures to have spoken out against the use of AI in movies. Earlier in December 2025, Leonardo DiCaprio emphasised that anything created by AI can't be "authentically" considered art.

"I think anything that is going to be authentically thought of as art has to come from the human being. Otherwise -- haven't you heard these songs that are mashups that are just absolutely brilliant and you go, 'Oh my God, this is Michael Jackson doing the Weeknd,' or 'This is funk from the A Tribe Called Quest song "Bonita Applebum," done in, you know, a sort of Al Green soul-song voice, and it's brilliant.' And you go, 'Cool.' But then it gets its 15 minutes of fame and it just dissipates into the ether of other internet junk. There's no anchoring to it. There's no humanity to it, as brilliant as it is," the actor said.