Ari Aster warns of AI’s creeping normality ahead of Eddington release
‘They talk about AI like disciples,’ says Eddington director Ari Aster. ‘And that’s very frightening.’
Ari Aster, the director behind Hereditary and Midsommar, is sounding the alarm on AI. In a recent Letterboxd interview promoting his upcoming A24 film Eddington, Aster described his growing unease with AI.
He framed it as a quasi-religious force reshaping reality in ways that are already irreversible. ‘If you talk to these engineers… they talk about AI as a god,’ said Aster. ‘They’re very worshipful of this thing. Whatever space there was between our lived reality and this imaginal reality — that’s disappearing.’
Aster’s comments suggest concern not just about the technology, but about the mindset surrounding its development. Eddington, set during the COVID-19 pandemic, is a neo-Western dark comedy.
It stars Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal as a sheriff and a mayor locked in a bitter digital feud.
The film reflects Aster’s fears about the dehumanising impact of modern technology. He drew from the ideas of media theorist Marshall McLuhan, referencing his phrase: ‘Man is the sex organ of the machine world.’ Aster asked, ‘Is this technology an extension of us, are we extensions of this technology, or are we here to usher it into being?’
The implication is clear: AI may not simply assist humanity—it might define it. Aster’s films often explore existential dread and loss of control. His perspective on AI taps into similar fears, but in real life. ‘The most uncanny thing about it is that it’s less uncanny than I want it to be,’ he said.
‘I see AI-generated videos, and they look like life. The longer we live in them, the more normal they become.’ The normalisation of artificial content strikes at the core of Aster’s unease. It also mirrors recent tensions in Hollywood over AI’s role in creative industries.
In 2023, WGA and SAG-AFTRA fought for protections against AI-generated scripts and likenesses. Their strike shut down the industry for months, but won language limiting AI use.
The battles highlighted the same issue Aster warns of—losing artistic agency to machines. ‘What happens when content becomes so seamless, it replaces real creativity?’ he seems to ask.
‘Something huge is happening right now, and we have no say in it,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe we’re actually going to live through this and see what happens. Holy cow.’ Eddington is scheduled for release in the United States on 18 July 2025.
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