## Jenna Ortega on AI and cinema
Jenna Ortega argues that artificial intelligence has no place in filmmaking because it lacks humanity and emotional depth. She describes AI as a tool without a soul that cannot generate the kind of imperfections and vulnerability that make art meaningful.
## Fears about AI in filmmaking
Speaking at the Marrakech Film Festival, Ortega said it is “very easy to be terrified” of AI and the uncertainty it introduces into the industry and society. She compared the rapid spread of AI to opening Pandora’s box, suggesting that people tend to push new technologies too far once they appear.
## Art, mistakes and humanity
Ortega emphasizes that there is “beauty in difficulty” and in human mistakes, something she believes no algorithm can authentically reproduce. In her view, computers can imitate patterns but cannot create work that audiences truly resonate with because machines do not share human experiences.
## Hope for a creative backlash
Despite her worries, Ortega hopes the rise of AI will push artists to reaffirm what only people can do. She suggests that the discomfort around AI could spark a renewed artistic awakening, encouraging filmmakers to protect the human side of storytelling.
## AI as “mental junk food”
Ortega imagines a future where audiences become tired of AI-generated movies and shows. She says she hopes AI content will turn into a kind of “mental junk food” that leaves viewers feeling uneasy, prompting them to seek out authentic human-made art again.
## Other filmmakers’ reactions
At the same festival, director Bong Joon Ho supported the idea that AI forces people to reconsider what only humans can create. He joked that his personal response would be to form a “military squad” to destroy AI, underlining his own skepticism about its role in art.
## Quote highlights
> “There’s beauty in difficulty, and there’s beauty in mistakes, and a computer can’t do that. A computer has no soul.”
> She hopes AI-generated work eventually “becomes mental junk food” that makes audiences feel sick without knowing why.
### Author’s brief summary
Ortega portrays AI as soulless “mental junk food” for cinema and hopes its rise will trigger a backlash that revives respect for imperfect, deeply human storytelling.
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Yahoo News Canada — 2025-11-30