Seth Rogen is speaking out against the growing wave of AI-generated content, arguing that writers who use the technology shouldn’t be writers at all. The actor and filmmaker shared his thoughts while talking about his animated film, “Tangles,” highlighting how it was created with “human touch” and without artificial intelligence.
Seth Rogen thinks AI content is ‘stupid’
Speaking to Brut America at the Cannes Film Festival, filmmaker Seth Rogen didn’t mince his words when talking about AI. He said he doesn’t really understand what AI is supposed to do, adding that he sees a lot of videos on Instagram saying “Hollywood is done” due to the rise of computer-generated content. “The following is the stupidest dog shit I have ever seen in my life,” he said, referring to the AI videos.
Rogen’s comments come amid controversies over the use of AI in Hollywood, opening discussions about job security, intellectual property and artistic authenticity, with some major film studios experimenting with AI for cost-cutting and post-production.
In May, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that oversees the Oscars, banned purely AI-generated acting and writing from winning awards in order to protect artistic integrity, as the BBC reported.
Actor thinks writers who use AI shouldn’t be writers
Rogen continued his takedown of AI, specifically going after writers who rely on AI. “If your instinct is to use AI and not go through that process, you shouldn’t be a writer,” Rogen said, adding that using AI is not writing. For the filmmaker, writing is a process and the idea of using technology does not resonate with him.
The actor has written extensively for film and television, and he enjoys the process. “I don’t like the idea of a toll that makes me write less, because I like writing,” he explained. Sarah Leavitt, the author of the graphic novel Rogen’s film is based on, also shared her opinion. As a creative writing teacher, Leavitt told his students, “One of the things AI can’t do is go through the creative process. »
This isn’t the first time Rogen has spoken out against AI. In 2023, the actor spoke out against technology amid the Writers Guild of America strike. “I think the prospect of artificial intelligence writing things down is horrible, and the fact that they seem to be digging [it] is more horrible,” Rogen said.
One of the key issues of the 2023 strike was that writers were seeking protection to ensure that generative AI tools would not be used to write documents. “You’d have to put a lot of grass in this thing [for it to write good TV]” Rogen noted, referring to AI tools.
Filmmaker says no AI was used in ‘Tangles’
Rogen discussed his animated film “Tangles,” which tells the story of Sarah, an activist who leaves her life in San Francisco to return to her hometown and care for her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease. Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, are producers and the film has an ensemble cast including Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Pamela Adlon, Sarah Silverman, Samira Wiley, Wanda Sykes and Bowen Yang, among others.
According to Rogen, no AI was used in the film. “It’s hand-drawn animation. Every frame has a human touch,” he shared. Lauren added: “When the line was drawn by a hand, that hand was moved through someone who had feelings, instead of just an agenda.”
Seth Rogen has numerous writing credits
Although many know Rogen best for his acting, he has been writing since he was a teenager. In the early 2000s, he was a writer and actor for Judd Apatow’s TV show “Undeclared,” then wrote for the final season of Sacha Baron Cohen’s sketch series, “Da Ali G Show.”
In 2007 his film “Superbad” was released, a screenplay that he began developing with Evan Goldberg while he was still a teenager. In the years that followed, Rogen co-wrote “Drillbit Taylor,” “Pineapple Express,” “The Green Hornet” and “The Watch,” “Sausage Party,” “The Interview,” as well as an episode of “The Simpsons.”
In 2025, Rogen won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for his Apple TV+ series, “The Studio”.