Guillermo del Toro issues stark warning to Hollywood: 'We are on the verge of cinema illiteracy’

Guillermo del Toro is a passionate defender of cinema. So, as artificial intelligence encroaches on Hollywood, the filmmaker is sounding the alarm.

In a stark warning at a BFI America event, the director slammed what he said was the corporate consolidation and increasing influence of AI.

“We are on the verge of image illiteracy. We are on the verge of cinema illiteracy,” Toro warned in front of the crowd.

The Hellboy director said that human creativity in self-expression is thousands of years old.

"The human desire to express oneself is as old as the first images crafted on ancient cave walls in antiquity," he shared.

Calling AI a form of “natural stupidity," Toro shared, “The pact between man and image is sacred."

Drawing on an extensive history of humans involved in creating art, Toro said AI is threatening to this creativity.

“We are told images can be generated by artificial means. The existence of an image is not just to be there. It is to connect us, to make us feel beauty."

Toro's speech came as he was honored with a prestigious BFI fellowship.