At 82, George Lucas says AI is the future of movies whether Hollywood likes it or not

George Lucas has spoken out on artificial intelligence in movies. He shared his views in a new interview with A Rabbit’s Foot magazine. The talk was tied to the coming opening of his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

Lucas told the magazine that AI is changing how movies get made. He said the technology makes it much easier for filmmakers to make movies.

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He compared people who resist AI to those who once preferred horses and buggies over cars. Cars broke down. They needed gas. People worried they would even turn into tanks and start killing people. But none of that stopped the automobile from taking over.

Lucas said the same thing will happen with AI. There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s progress, it’s the future.

He sees solutions, not just risks

Lucas did admit AI comes with real problems. Fake images and videos are a growing worry across Hollywood. But he believes AI itself can fix a lot of what it breaks.

He pointed out that AI tools can flag content that is fake and show where it came from. He added that humans are not smart enough to catch every fake on their own.

Lucas also stressed personal responsibility. People need to answer for what they create with these tools, he said, the same way they would in any part of daily life.

A long history with new technology

This is not new territory for Lucas. He has chased new tools since his early days on THX 1138 in the late 1960s. He helped build Industrial Light and Magic, the visual effects house behind much of modern Hollywood. He pushed for CGI and motion capture during the Star Wars prequels, long before most studios wanted anything to do with that kind of tech.

Other well known directors share his view. Names like Darren Aronofsky, Roger Deakins, Steven Soderbergh, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese have also spoken in favor of using AI in film work in some form. Andy Serkis has used it for de-aging actors on The Hunt for Gollum. Doug Liman shot a recent film entirely on AI-generated sets.

Younger filmmakers tend to be more cautious. Many worry about jobs, creativity, and what happens to human made work once AI takes on more of the process.