Christopher Nolan says public disdains AI content

Christopher Nolan said audiences have broadly rejected AI-generated content, while predicting that the type of large-scale films he makes will survive the spread of the technology.

The Oscar-winning director of "Oppenheimer" and "The Dark Knight" told AFP in Paris that AI had been adopted by investors and technology companies while facing strong public rejection.

"Young people in particular, they coined this term 'AI slop'," Nolan said. "There's a sort of disdain for things AI."

Nolan is promoting his latest blockbuster, an adaptation of the Greek epic "The Odyssey". The film has a reported budget of $250 million and stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, with Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson and Anne Hathaway also in the cast.

Nolan said AI could lead to useful imaging tools, but rejected the idea that it could replace people and human creativity wholesale, calling that claim "nonsense".

AI tools have been widely adopted in business applications, online search and chatbots, but the technology has faced major pushback in creative industries including music, cinema and art. Concerns over AI were among the issues behind the 2023 Hollywood strike that shut down productions.