Last year, director Paul Schrader—recognized for his work on films such as Blue Collar, American Gigolo, and First Reformed, as well as writing Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver—posed a thought-provoking question regarding artificial intelligence in Hollywood. After the premiere of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, Schrader asked on Facebook: “Will Dune 3 be produced by AI? And, if so, how will we recognize it?”
Schrader, renowned for his keen humor, appeared to reflect a rising sentiment: that the visuals in Hollywood have become so sleek and impersonal that they might as well have been created by machines instead of human creators. While the majority of generative AIs are trained on human-generated visuals, Dune appeared to turn this notion on its head, seemingly drawing inspiration from AI-generated imagery. Although the film implemented machine learning for some effects, it raised inquiries about the existence of an AI aesthetic and whether AI video generators can embody artistic concepts or principles.
At first, I thought the responses to these inquiries were negative, since AI does not possess the capability for ideas or values, traits inherent to humans. Similar to a toaster, AI simply executes pre-programmed functions without intention or concern. To test my beliefs, I attended the 2025 AI Film Festival in New York, which featured 10 short films.
The AI Film Festival, backed by Runway, a New York-based AI company, aspires to offer “tools for human imagination,” encompassing image and video generators. Runway’s Gen-4 software enables users to produce entire films or similar projects. Co-founder Alejandro Matamala Ortiz mentioned that they were filmmakers looking to develop the tools they sought.
The festival sought to validate these AI tools, featuring a gala screening at New York’s Alice Tully Hall, a venue recognized for elite film activities. Filmmakers and technologists came together to watch high-quality AI-generated films, often labeled as “slop.” Ortiz remarked that the festival format assists in “uniting individuals.” The gala program is currently touring Imax theaters across the country for a limited duration.
