Film professionals at the Zurich Summit discussed AI’s growing influence on cinema, stressing that creators and industry leaders must actively shape its ethical and commercial use. Vania Schlogel argued that AI is already affecting society and human empathy, while Nick Shumaker supported its potential but warned that generative systems may exploit copyrighted work without permission.

Schlogel said disturbing AI-generated content had convinced her to engage with the technology rather than avoid it, despite concerns that confident AI systems can encourage people to defer to them. Shumaker said Alex Gibney’s documentary *Musk* used little AI, mainly for post-production lip-synching, while Zack London, whose film *Gods Don’t Give Gifts* was fully AI-generated, criticised polarised debates that treat AI as a single, uniform technology.