Fresh off securing a record-breaking directorial debut with A24 at just 20 years old, filmmaker Kane Parsons has made his stance on generative AI clear, describing its growing presence in creative industries as deeply concerning.

Speaking to The Australian, the Backrooms creator said he has little interest in using AI-generated tools for artistic work and would gladly see them disappear. “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would,” Parsons said. “Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.”

While acknowledging that AI could potentially assist with repetitive visual-effects work, Parsons believes the larger conversation is difficult to separate from the real-world impact the technology is already having. He pointed to what he described as “genuinely harmful consequences” emerging as generative AI becomes increasingly widespread.

Rather than incorporating AI into his own creative process, Parsons is more interested in examining its influence through storytelling. The filmmaker said the growing number of AI-generated images in public spaces has become impossible to ignore.

“We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop,” he said. “That’s become part of our visual reality.”

Parsons argued that generative AI represents something larger than technological progress. “To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot,” he added, noting that he hopes to explore those ideas in future projects. “I’m interested in using that iconography in art — not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents.”

The film, written by Will Soodik, is an expansion of Parsons' series of short films. The psychological horror thriller stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell.