Guillermo del Toro Warns ‘Cinema Illiteracy’ is Near Amid Hollywood’s AI Usage

Guillermo del Toro sounded a stark warning about artificial intelligence at his BFI Fellowship honor, declaring Hollywood is “on the verge of cinema illiteracy.” The three-time Oscar winner, recognized for Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, and last year’s Frankenstein, voiced concerns during Monday night’s BFI America dinner event in Hollywood about AI’s infiltration into human-centric art-making. (Via Variety)

Calling AI a manifestation of “natural stupidity,” del Toro emphasized that “The pact between man and image is sacred.” He further added:

We are told images can be generated by artificial means. The existence of an image is not just to be there. It is to connect us, to make us feel beauty.

His criticism isn’t new. He previously declared at the Gotham Awards, “F*** AI,” and told NPR in October 2025 he’d “rather die” than use generative AI in his projects.

Darren Aronofsky Recently Came Under Fire for AI Slop

Darren Aronofsky. | Credits: Image by Harry Murphy/Web Summit via Sportsfile / Licensed under CCA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons.

Del Toro’s warning comes amid growing backlash against AI in Hollywood. Darren Aronofsky recently faced intense criticism for his AI-generated YouTube series On This Day… 1776, which used Google DeepMind models to recreate Revolutionary War events. The series drew 18,000 dislikes against just 767 likes on YouTube, with viewers calling it “embarrassing” and “the most evil thing I’ve ever seen”. (VIA Deadline)

Aronofsky himself said it’s “too soon for AI to be used in full primetime” for feature films, yet his AI studio Primordial Soup proceeded with the project. The backlash suggests audiences can smell shortcuts and want human craft, giving creatives leverage against AI adoption.

As Hollywood grapples with AI’s rapid integration into filmmaking, del Toro’s impassioned defense of human creativity stands as a rallying cry for artists worldwide. The director’s BFI Fellowship, the British Film Institute’s highest honor, presented by Cate Blanchett in London this May, adds weight to his warnings about the future of cinema.

What do you think about AI in filmmaking? Should studios follow del Toro’s lead and reject generative AI entirely, or is there a place for this technology in modern storytelling? Share your thoughts in the comments below and let us know would you watch a movie made with AI?