Chris Pratt on AI in Hollywood: ‘You’re Not Replacing the Human Soul’
Chris Pratt is not losing sleep over the rise of artificial intelligence in Hollywood. Speaking with Variety on the night at the New York premiere of his new film Mercy, the actor dismissed concerns that synthetic performers could push real actors out of work and called the growing panic over AI personalities overblown.
“I don’t feel like someone’s gonna replace me that’s AI,” Pratt said during the red carpet interview. He specifically referenced recent chatter about Tilly Norwood, a synthetic AI performer that has drawn attention within industry circles. “I heard this Tilly Norwood thing, I think that’s all bullshit. I’ve never seen her in a movie. I don’t know who this bitch is. It’s all fake until it’s something.”
While blunt in his assessment, Pratt was more measured when talking about artificial intelligence as a broader technology. He acknowledged that AI will likely change how the industry operates, but suggested that disruption does not automatically mean destruction. In his view, the technology has the potential to support creativity rather than replace it.
He said AI can be “an amazing tool in the right hands,” even if it will “inevitably disrupt the industry.” Still, he expressed confidence that storytelling will remain grounded in human experience. “I don’t think you’re going to replace the human soul of a director or a writer or an actor or a singer or any of this stuff that requires human yearning and suffering and vision in art,” he said.
The debate around AI performers intensified last year after Dutch comedian Eline Van der Velden unveiled Tilly Norwood, a fully synthetic character she created and presented as a potential future screen performer. Van der Velden claimed that Tilly would soon sign with representation, which sparked immediate backlash across the entertainment industry. SAG-AFTRA issued a statement warning that projects like this create “the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”
Van der Velden pushed back against the criticism, arguing that Tilly should not be seen as competition for real people. She described the character as “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art.”
Pratt’s comments echo a broader skepticism among established actors about whether AI can truly replicate artistic depth. He is not alone in questioning the idea that technology could ever substitute for human creativity. In December, Leonardo DiCaprio voiced similar doubts, arguing that AI lacks the emotional core needed for real artistry.
“It could be an enhancement tool for a young filmmaker to do something we’ve never seen before,” DiCaprio said at the time. “I think anything that is going to be authentically thought of as art has to come from the human being. Pratt, the bottom line is simple: technology may evolve, but the heart of filmmaking still belongs to people.
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