Laika chief Travis Knight rejects AI use in filmmaking, warns it could replace artists

Travis Knight, the director and chief executive of stop-motion studio Laika, said he will not incorporate generative AI into his filmmaking process. While acknowledging AI’s technical brilliance, he warned that allowing it to replace artists would undermine the human perspective essential to storytelling. Knight compared a pencil, a paintbrush, a 3D printer and a computer as tools that only become valuable in the hands of creators.

He stressed that a computer lacks the capacity to feel or speak about humanity. The interview also touched on his upcoming Masters of the Universe adaptation, a project backed by Mattel and starring Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes and Jared Leto, which he says benefited from his deep affection for the franchise.