Director James Gray has dismissed artificial intelligence as "worthless" for filmmaking, arguing that younger audiences are hungry for authentic, human-made work rather than algorithmically generated content. Speaking to Variety ahead of receiving the Pardo alla Carriera lifetime achievement award at the Locarno Film Festival, Gray also pushed back on the idea that the honour signals his best work is behind him, insisting he still owes the world "one or two truly great movies."

Gray, whose credits include "Little Odessa," "We Own the Night," "Ad Astra" and "Paper Tiger," reflected on a career spent resisting industry pressure to chase novelty, arguing that the pursuit of "freshness" is largely a commercial construct rather than an artistic necessity. He noted that his films occupy an unusual middle ground between blockbusters and arthouse cinema, a position he sees as a creative strength despite the commercial friction it has sometimes caused, and credited this approach with attracting major stars such as Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson to his projects.