‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons Says He’s ‘Anti-AI’: No Artist Needs ‘Generative Tools’

The 21-year-old California native explained his stance on artificial intelligence in a wide-ranging interview published Tuesday by IndieWire. During his conversation with the outlet, Parsons passionately pushed back against the narrative that up-and-coming artists need to adopt AI tools if they do not want to get left behind in Hollywood and other creative industries. “If you want to put me in one camp, I’m anti-AI, especially when it comes to art,” Parsons said. “I like the amount of struggle that I endure on my work. I don’t want it to be much harder. I don’t want it to be much easier. I don’t want to create some big narrative out of, like, ‘Gen Z director is championing an anti-AI stance.’” “At the same time, I don’t agree with the argument that goes, ‘Oh, I have to have a seat at the table, so I’m gonna use these tools because I don’t want to be boxed out.’ No, you don’t need to do that,” he explained. “No artist friend of mine wants anything to do with generative tools.” Parsons, who confirmed that he lives near “a lot” of data centers outside of Silicon Valley in Northern California, made waves this year with his feature directorial debut, “Backrooms.” Based on his web series of the same name, as well as the original creepypasta that inspired it, Parsons’ liminal psychological horror film received largely positive reviews from critics and grossed over $400 million at the worldwide box office when it hit theaters in late May. The film ranks as A24’s highest-grossing movie to date and Parsons is the youngest filmmaker to ever have a film take the No. 1 spot at both the domestic and global box offices. As a result, Parsons has been characterized by many industry analysts and insiders as a kind of Gen Z spokesman for Hollywood. With that in mind, Parsons told IndieWire that he believes a lot of artists and young people feel disconnected from the AI decision-makers and industry leaders. He pointed specifically to the gap between how many people of his generation grew up grinding and dedicating hours to world-building video games and how many corporate executives talk about AI’s streamlining capabilities. “People feel very dissociated from the people who are making those decisions, both politically and corporately,” Parsons observed. “The kids I grew up with, I see how they play ‘Minecraft,’ I see what they do in those games, and how there’s a race to get to the bottom of some fun problem that results in colorful sparkles and explosions, and maybe, you know, some fantastical sci-fi-coded singularity event.” “I know people who genuinely would romanticize living the cyberpunk world that’s depicted in ‘Blade Runner.’ Make of that what you will,” Parsons continued, concluding, “I don’t want to scream about AI, but I want more competent people than me to get in a room and steer us in a safer direction.”