Tom Cruise says AI is coming, but filmmaking needs human craft
Tom Cruise told a BAFTA audience that AI’s arrival is unavoidable, while arguing moviegoers still want real, human-made experiences.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
Tom Cruise AI filmmaking took center stage at a BAFTA event in London, where the actor said the technology’s arrival is unavoidable but argued that audiences still seek work rooted in human craft.
Speaking at BAFTA’s Life in Pictures conversation, Cruise was asked by host Edith Bowman how artificial intelligence could affect the movie business. His answer, reported by Variety, was a defense of people making films and watching them together in theaters.
“There is nothing like human,” Cruise said. He later told the audience that AI “is coming and it’s going to happen,” while adding: “People want to see real things.”
Cruise’s message to filmmakers was short and direct: “Keep creating.”
What did Tom Cruise say about AI and filmmaking?
Cruise did not offer a detailed prediction about how AI will be used in production. His point was that the technology will arrive, but that he believes viewers still value human stories, physical craft and the shared experience of seeing a movie in a cinema.
According to Variety, Cruise said he has no objection to streaming. He described watching a film in a theater as a separate art form, because it brings an audience together in one place.
He pointed to the summer box office as an example of people continuing to go to theaters, though that was Cruise’s own argument rather than a broader finding about how audiences view AI-made work.
Deadline reported that the remarks ran for more than six minutes and drew applause at the BAFTA gathering. The outlet said Cruise spoke about the value of film craftspeople, camera-lens technology and the difference between cinemas and streaming.
“What you put attention on, you give life,” Cruise told the audience, according to Deadline. He said he did not want the industry to lose the craftspeople who dedicate their careers to making movies.
Cruise used the BAFTA event to discuss his next film
The conversation covered Cruise’s career, including Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia and the Mission: Impossible series, as well as his forthcoming film Digger.
Digger is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and is scheduled to open in theaters on Oct. 2 through Warner Bros., Variety reported. Deadline identified Cruise’s character as oil baron Digger Rockwell.
Cruise has addressed artificial intelligence before. Deadline reported that he pushed for technology-related protections during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA negotiations. At BAFTA, though, his emphasis was on a future where new tools exist alongside the people who write, build, shoot and perform in movies.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.