‘Odyssey’ director Christopher Nolan calls AI an obvious ‘Trojan horse’

Christopher Nolan, the Oscar-winning director whose new version of “The Odyssey” is currently being released conquering the box officesaid it was “quite encouraging” to see deep skepticism about AI, especially among young people.

It was Nolan in response to a question from interviewer Hugo Traverswho publishes on YouTube under the name HugoDécrypte. Travers brought up the legendary Trojan Horse, which plays a key role in Nolan’s film. Just as the horse was a gift that concealed murderous Greek invaders, he wondered if AI might be something “that welcomes you into your daily life,” only to see it become “something different and something darker.”

Laughing, Nolan replied: “I think AI is a Trojan horse that everyone knows the Greeks are in.” He later described the technology as “a transparent horse made of glass.”

“I have never seen technology evolve so quickly [that’s been] so completely rejected by the public.’ The reaction to AI videos online and people my kids’ age immediately calling it “AI slop” and coining that term and just putting it in a box.

According to Nolan, this is “a very healthy skepticism, because technology will always give us great gifts, as you say, but it should be viewed with skepticism.” Similarly, he said, “The motives of the people who give it to us should also be viewed with skepticism. Then we will get the best out of a new technology, instead of just blindly trusting that everything will be great.” (Meanwhile, so has SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posting angrily about the film’s non-white and transgender cast members.)

Nolan didn’t get more specific about what he sees as the threat of AI, but the technology is a growing concern in Hollywood and was a major focus during the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes. The Directors Guild of America, where Nolan is president, has also won some generative AI protections in his most recent contract.

The director is known for his resistance to other technologies, including smartphones; his embrace of film may make him seem like one at the same time Luddite and a pioneer, with “The Odyssey” becoming the first feature film shot entirely with Imax film and cameras.

Then the New York Times Nolan recently asked if he considers himself a technophobe‘, he replied: ‘I consider myself a techno-skeptic’, and said that his love of film stems from the fact that film is ‘better in terms of representing the way the eye sees the world than any digital imaging system I have seen.’

“I continually embrace new technology, but it is often sold to people at the expense of systems that may still be valid and viable,” Nolan said. “That’s what I saw in my industry: throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We almost lost the movie!”