Christopher Nolan at a screening of The Odyssey earlier this week Christopher Nolan has admitted he doesn’t think audiences will be embracing generative AI in the film world any time soon. The Oscar-winning director is currently on the promo trail for his new movie The Odyssey, which boasts a star-studded cast and notably leaned into on-location shoots and practical effects as much as possible, rather than relying on green screen technology and CGI. During a recent interview with The Telegraph, the British filmmaker admitted that, while the rise of AI is becoming an increasingly contentious issue in the film industry, he doesn’t think people have all that much to worry about based on audiences’ reactions to it. “I’ve never seen a more rapid wholesale dismissal of a supposedly foundational jump in technology in my lifetime,” he claimed. “So much energy has been expended on bringing in AI, but if you look at [the younger] generation’s reaction, they’re utterly rejecting it.” He added: “Their judgment of AI slop has been immediate and harsh. They see it for what it is very quickly – and it’s much easier for them to identify it, because it grew out of an online world they know really well. “And while that doesn’t mean that every aspect of the technology is useless or meaningless, in film-making it’s hitting at exactly the wrong time. After years of driving towards heavily virtual environments, we’re seeing a renewed interest in more tactile, more real forms of storytelling.” Christopher Nolan on the set of his new film The Odyssey Nolan then highlighted the success of the 2026 horror films Obsession and Backrooms as evidence of his point, claiming they show that young audiences are still interested in fresh storytelling that employs practical effects. “This is why I never bought into the arguments that young audiences’ attention spans are too fried to enjoy a three-hour Greek epic,” he noted. Generative AI, of course, has become a hugely polarising issue within creative industries over the last few years, and was a major factor in the 2023 Hollywood strikes. In recent history, directors like Martin Scorsese and Darren Aronofsky have faced backlash due to their endorsement of AI in the film industry, with Steven Spielberg clarifying his own stance on the issue while promoting his new movie Disclosure Day. Plans to recreate the late Val Kilmer’s likeness in an upcoming film he’d intended to star in before his death have also been met with a polarised response. READ MORE: Christopher Nolan Shrugs Off 'Irrelevant' Backlash Over The Odyssey's Diverse Cast Christopher Nolan Opens Up About Ending The Odyssey Shoot Early: 'People Were Exhausted' Christopher Nolan Compares Samantha Morton In The Odyssey To Heath Ledger's Joker