Anthony Chen slams social media, AI at Udine festival
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- Anthony Chen delivered a panel at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, warning that social media harms cinema culture and humanity.
- Chen said he never installed TikTok, puts his phone on airplane mode during screenings, and attends cinema twice a week to counter distraction.
- Chen quoted a Chinese filmmaker who warned that relying on AI for decisions erases humanity, adding that tools like ChatGPT risk ceding essential human agency.
- We Are All Strangers, Chen’s concluding film of his Singapore trilogy, features a livestreaming personality and reflects his concerns about short‑form content and attention spans.
- June Kim moderated the discussion, which highlighted Chen’s 14‑year collaboration with Yeo Yann Yann and actor Koh Jia Ler, whose casting journey spanned Instagram discovery and a 10‑month search of 8,000 children.
- Chen argued that Singapore’s prosperity masks perpetual labor and that the country sweeps many hardships under the carpet, highlighting invisible poverty.
Why it matters: Filmmakers and audiences gain a rare public defense of deep, distraction‑free storytelling, while the rise of short‑form platforms and AI‑driven decision‑making threatens to diminish attention spans and authentic cultural expression, potentially reshaping cinema’s future. This debate underscores the urgency for creators to prioritize human agency over algorithmic shortcuts, influencing funding, distribution, and the cultural relevance of films worldwide.
