Jenna Ortega Slams AI as “Terrifying” Pandora’s Box at Marrakech Film Festival: “A Computer Has No Soul”
Jenna Ortega Slams AI as “Terrifying” Pandora’s Box at Marrakech Film Festival: “A Computer Has No Soul”
Jenna Ortega isn’t holding back when it comes to artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the Marrakech Film Festival, the Wednesday star warned that AI poses “deep uncertainty” for filmmaking and humanity, saying it’s “very easy to be terrified” as technology races ahead. Serving on this year’s festival jury — led by Parasite director Bong Joon Ho — Ortega made it clear she sees AI as a double-edged sword.
Looking at human history, Ortega said, “we just always take things too far,” adding that AI “feels like we’ve opened Pandora’s box.” While she hopes the rise of AI might spark a new artistic awakening, she drew a firm line on what technology can’t replace: “A computer has no soul.”
She pushed back against the idea that AI can replicate human creation, saying there’s “beauty in difficulty” and “beauty in mistakes,” things machines simply can’t mimic. Ortega even predicted that AI might one day become “mental junk food” that audiences grow sick of, forcing people to re-appreciate genuine human artistry.
Bong Joon Ho echoed her concerns — jokingly threatening to form a “military squad to destroy AI all over the world” — while adding that AI might ultimately force humanity to confront what only people can do.
They weren’t the only ones fired up.
Past Lives filmmaker Celine Song didn’t sugarcoat her thoughts either, quoting Guillermo del Toro with a blunt: “Fuck AI.” She said the technology is “colonizing our mind” and warping how we experience sound and imagery. “The No. 1 thing we’re here to defend as artists is humanity,” she added. “Deeply and not very respectfully, fuck AI.”
The festival jury this year is packed with star power, including Anya Taylor-Joy, Julia Ducournau, Karim Aïnouz, Hakim Belabbes and Payman Maadi.
Taylor-Joy, meanwhile, used the moment to reflect on listening versus shouting — saying the world is obsessed with being loud, when what we really need is “more silence” and actual critical thinking. “We’d all be a lot better off if we listened more than we yelled,” she said.
The Marrakech Film Festival — running through Dec. 6 — kicked off with Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire. The lineup includes tributes to Jodie Foster and Guillermo del Toro, screenings of A Private Life and Frankenstein, and conversations with Laurence Fishburne, Jafar Panahi, and more. Fourteen films from emerging global directors will compete in the festival’s official competition.
