Christopher Nolan, whose film The Odyssey is currently topping the global box office, has described artificial intelligence as a Trojan horse whose dangers are entirely visible to those accepting it, and said he finds the depth of public scepticism around the technology encouraging.

Responding to a question from interviewer Hugo Travers about whether AI might be welcomed into daily life before revealing a darker character, Nolan said, "I think AI is a Trojan horse that everybody knows the Greeks are inside." He described the technology as "a transparent horse, it's made of glass."

"I've never seen a technology advancing so rapidly that's been so completely rejected by the public," he said. "Everybody's suspicion of it is so extreme, particularly young people. The reaction to AI videos online and people my children's age immediately calling it 'AI slop' and coining that term and just putting it in a box."

Nolan described himself not as a technophobe but as a "techno-skeptic," adding: "Technology is always going to give us great gifts, but it has to be viewed with skepticism. The motives of the people giving it to us also have to be viewed with skepticism. That's when we'll get the best out of a new technology, rather than just blind faith that everything's going to be great."

Nolan serves as president of the Directors Guild of America, which secured generative AI protections in its most recent contract. The Odyssey is the first feature film to be shot entirely on Imax film cameras.