Seth Rogen Has Strong Words About AI Writers

I saw the clip of Seth Rogen talking at Cannes recently. It was blunt. It was honest. He didn't hold back at all when the topic of AI came up.

He thinks using AI to build a story is a total joke. If you rely on a machine to do the heavy lifting, you aren't really a writer. You're just a user.

It's a hot take that has people talking. But honestly? I think he's onto something. Let's dig into why this matters for the future of film.

The messy history of machines in the writers' room

The fight for human creativity in Hollywood isn't new. For years, studios have tried to cut costs. They look for ways to make things faster. They want to make things cheaper. But writing isn't a factory job.

We saw the WGA strike happen because of this. Writers wanted to protect their work. They wanted to make sure they could still pay rent. They didn't want machines replacing their souls on the page.

The tech itself is getting better at mimicry. It can copy tone. It can copy pacing. But it can't copy a life lived. It doesn't know pain. It doesn't know joy. It just calculates what comes next based on data.

So when Rogen says the stuff he sees online is "dog shit," he means it. It lacks the weird, messy, human edge that makes a great movie. It's just math masquerading as art.

What the man said at cannes

Rogen was very clear during his chat with Brut. He doesn't get the point of it. He sees people posting on Instagram about how Hollywood is finished. Then he sees the clips they make with AI.

He thinks those clips are bad. Like, really bad. He told the crowd that if your gut instinct is to let a robot write your script, you're in the wrong place. You should pack your bags. You should go do something else.

He views writing as a process. It's about trial and error. It's about sitting in a room and hating your own words until you find the right ones. If you skip that, you skip the actual work.

It's not just about the final product. It's about the grind. Rogen has spent decades doing that grind. He knows the difference between a funny line written by a person and a joke generated by a code.

He isn't just hating on tech for the sake of it. He's defending the craft. He believes that if you aren't willing to bleed for the story, the story won't work. It's that simple.

The tech behind the bad scripts

Most AI writers work on a basic principle. They use large sets of data. They look at patterns. They predict the next word in a sequence. That is all they do.

When you ask a model to write a scene, it doesn't understand subtext. It doesn't know why a character might pause. It doesn't know why a look between two people can change everything.

We see this in the output. Characters feel flat. The dialogue sounds like it was written by a committee. It's "safe." It's "average." It's the opposite of what makes a Seth Rogen movie pop.

Even if the tech improves, it still lacks intent. A machine doesn't want to say anything. It just wants to fill a prompt. Humans write because they have something to get off their chest.

What this means for the future of movies

I think we'll see a split in the industry. Some studios will lean into cheap content. They will use AI to flood the zone with mediocre shows and films. It will be bad, but it will be cheap.

Then, you'll have the creators who double down on humanity. They will push for more personal stories. They will make movies that feel like they were touched by a real person. That's where the value will be.

If you're an aspiring writer, don't use these tools to replace your brain. Use them for research maybe, but never for the creative core. If you do, you'll never develop your own voice.

The audience can tell. We can smell a fake script from a mile away. It feels hollow. It feels empty. If Hollywood keeps moving this way, they'll lose the very people who pay to see these movies.

Quick questions answered

Is Seth Rogen against all tech in movies? No, he uses plenty of tech to make his movies. He just hates when it replaces the writing process.

Why do people think AI is coming for writers? Because it's cheap and fast. Studios want to save money, and AI has a way to generate content without paying human writers.

Can AI ever write a good movie? Maybe a boring one. It can copy structure, but it can't bring a unique perspective or real life experience.

What did the WGA strike accomplish? It set rules. Studios now have to disclose if they use AI and must protect human writers from being replaced by it.

Should I use AI if I'm stuck on a plot hole? Use it if you want, but don't let it write your scenes. Your own brain is always better at solving your own story problems.