‘Lord of the Rings’ director Peter Jackson calls AI ‘just special effect,’ says he doesn’t ‘dislike’ it
CANNES, FRANCE: Peter Jackson has opened up about the use of AI in movies as he spoke at a Cannes Film Festival masterclass on Wednesday, May 13.
The ‘Lord of the Rings’ director claimed that he does not “dislike” AI being used in filmmaking but also argued that it is “going to destroy the world.”
Peter Jackson says AI is ‘no different from other special effects’
The filmmaker shared his views a day after he was awarded an Honorary Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. “I don’t dislike it at all. I mean, to me, it’s just a special effect. It’s no different from other special effects,” Jackson said of AI.
The 64-year-old, however, pointed out some dangers and drawbacks that come along with the use of AI in arts and entertainment.
“If you’re doing an AI duplicate of somebody, like Indiana Jones or anyone else, as long as you’ve licensed the rights off the person who you’re showing, I don’t see the issue,” he stated before noting, “It’s when people’s likenesses get stolen and usurped.”
Peter Jackson says AI-generated characters may not win awards
Jackson also went on to highlight how AI can affect awards recognition for performances involving motion-capture or generated characters.
“A lot of the current environment, everyone’s so worried about AI … I don’t think a Gollum-type character or a generated character has any hope of winning any awards. Which is a bit unfair, especially in the Andy Serkis case where it’s not an AI-generated performance, it’s a human-generated performance 100% of the way,” he added.
Jackson’s remarks around AI came as many celebrities have talked about it lately, including Demi Moore, who asked Hollywood to start embracing it.
Demi Moore says Hollywood should find ways to work with AI
Moore, one of the jury members at Cannes 2026, told reporters that Hollywood should “find ways in which we can work with it.”
“I always feel that against-ness breeds against-ness. AI is here. And so to fight it is to fight something that is a battle that we will lose. So to find ways in which we can work with it I think is a more valuable path to take,” the ‘The Substance’ actress shared.
She also mentioned that one should not be afraid of AI as it “can never replace what true art comes from, which is not the physical, it comes from the soul.”
“It comes from the spirit of each and every one of us sitting here, to each and every one of us who creates every day. And that they can never recreate through something that is technical,” Moore added.
