'Precursor to fascism': Guillermo del Toro warns against generative AI
Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro is sounding the alarm on generative AI, calling it a "prelude to fascism" at Variety's 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch during the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Accepting his directing award, he urged young filmmakers not to let tech replace real art or what makes us human.
Why is he so concerned?
Del Toro believes apps that generate art threaten creativity and humanity itself.
He put it bluntly: "At a time when people tell you art is not important, that is always the prelude to fascism."
He worries tech companies want AI-made art just to strip away what makes us better and more human, a paraphrase of his remarks about debasing what makes us more human.
Not his 1st warning
Del Toro has been outspoken about this before—last October, he told NPR he'd "rather die" than use generative AI for his work.
He's compared tech leaders pushing AI to Victor Frankenstein ignoring consequences, and at the Gotham Awards simply said: "F**k AI," giving all credit for his films' artistry to real people.