How to use AI
without losing
your soul

As the world fills up with AI-generated everything, I’ve spent the winter on stage and with a pen in hand. Why?

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I use AI too. I’m using it right now to reflect and structure these ideas. But I use it as an accelerator, not as a creator. It’s time to stop feeling guilty about it and start thinking more critically about how we integrate AI into our creativity.

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What does it mean to find your own voice in an era where AI can write for you, generate images, videos, music, and dialogues?

This was the heart of Spallate, a screenwriting workshop organized by WYN, a community for audiovisual professionals.

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I took part in two intensive weekends working on the story for a film, digging into my perspective and refining the theme. No algorithm can do this work for me.

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On one hand, AI is a tool that makes creativity more accessible. On the other, we see growing insecurity in people’s creative abilities. Maybe because we’ve become more critical, more curators than creators. Maybe because AI is designed to please us, not to challenge us.

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The event took place at Blackball, a Milan-based production company that blends commercial and narrative filmmaking. A perfect example of how having a strong identity in both fields is becoming increasingly crucial.

I’ve spent another winter on stage, having fun diving deeper into the art of acting — or should I say, playing?

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We live in an era obsessed with speed and optimization. But not everything should be optimized. There is value in learning to embrace processes and imperfections.

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Why work with actors when digital avatars and deepfakes exist?

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Because AI can imitate, but it cannot feel. Actors live, AI merely replicates patterns.

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"To be or not to be, that is the question." Hamlet’s famous line has become almost a cliché, almost a joke. And yet, today more than ever, it feels like a manifesto.

AI is driving down the cost of visual production.

Think about the use of AI in "Here" by Robert Zemeckis: an advanced system for real-time facial de-aging. The result is incredible.

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But in the end, what truly moves us is the story. It’s the actors’ performances.

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Another recent example of AI in cinema is "The Brutalist", a film that sparked controversy for using AI to modify the Hungarian accents of Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, making them sound more authentic.

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This technology had already been used in "The Mandalorian", but this time, audiences only discovered after watching that the voices had been digitally altered, reigniting the debate on AI’s role in filmmaking.

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Yet, this didn’t stop Brody from winning an Oscar for his performance.

If the cost of images is approaching zero, their value is also approaching zero.

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That’s why I keep shooting on film, writing with a team of people, and working with real-life actors. Because AI can amplify creativity, but it cannot replace the human process.

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Technology accelerates, but the soul of a story remains in the hands of those who tell it.

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