# At BAFTA event, Tom Cruise champions human-made cinema over AI

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/tom-cruise-defends-human-artistry-as-ai-reshapes-film-industry/
- Published: 2026-09-21T23:09:27+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-22T05:25:52+00:00
- Topics: AI, Americas, Art, Culture, Entertainment, Film, Technology, World

## Key points

- Cruise defended human creativity and craftsmanship against AI’s growing influence.
- He said audiences still value authentic, theatrical film experiences.
- His remarks came while promoting Digger, due out on 2 October.

## Summary

Tom Cruise delivered a passionate six-minute defence of human artistry over artificial intelligence at a BAFTA: Life in Pictures event in London, earning spontaneous applause. He argued that audiences still want authentic human experiences, real performances and traditional theatrical cinema, citing a strong summer box office and young people’s engagement with films as evidence. Cruise also warned against losing the skilled craftspeople whose work underpins filmmaking.

Cruise said “there is nothing like human” and that people “wanna see real things”, while discussing advances in camera technology and the relationship between cinemas and streaming. His comments continued his support for protections around AI, previously expressed during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA negotiations. The event promoted his forthcoming film Digger, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and scheduled for theatrical release on 2 October, in which Cruise plays an oil baron trying to prevent an environmental disaster he helped cause.

## Coverage

- [Variety: Tom Cruise Says AI Is ‘Coming and It’s Going to Happen,’ but ‘People Want to See Real Things’: ‘Keep Creating’](https://variety.com/2026/film/global/tom-cruise-ai-movies-people-want-real-things-1236871464/)
- [Deadline: Tom Cruise Earns Applause With Six-Minute Monologue On Why Art Beats AI In Filmmaking: “There Is Nothing Like Human”](https://deadline.com/2026/09/tom-cruise-ai-filmmaking-bafta-1237109599/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.