Tom Holland just drew a bold line in the human artists vs AI battle

Tom Holland, best known these days as everyone’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, has been out doing the promotional circuit again—with a slightly different kind of spotlight this time. Holland popped up on the Spanish chat show 'El Hormiguero' on Wednesday, with Zendaya in tow (never not a power couple). The main topic? The never-ending debate over AI and whether it’s actually coming for artists’ jobs.

The AI & Human Creativity Question

Here’s the thing: the topic of artificial intelligence and its impact on creative jobs in Hollywood won't go away. People keep arguing about it—some seeing it as an existential threat, others as more of a useful tool. Holland, chucked right into the centre of it, didn’t sit on the fence.

The way Holland sees it, creativity’s not up for grabs by the bots.

'Creativity is safe from AI because creativity has to do with the human experience. It’s about emotions, it’s about understanding one another.'

He went on to say that while AI is clever at crunching numbers or scarfing up data, it doesn’t 'understand people’s emotions.' In his words, AI doesn’t know the difference between happiness and sadness. The actual act of making art—painting, acting, whatever—is not about copying.

'The way artists paint, it’s not about what they’re copying, it’s about expressing themselves. So I feel protected.'

Mildly smug, frankly, but you can see his point.

Not Everyone Agrees

• Guillermo del Toro—never one to bite his tongue—has been pretty stark about the problem. His line: 'We are on the verge of image illiteracy. We are on the verge of cinema illiteracy.' That’s from a recent interview picked up by Variety. For del Toro, the fear is that if AI runs the show, everyone forgets how to actually make or understand films and art.
• Other icons, Martin Scorsese included, reckon AI could have its uses—up to a point. Even he’s admitted there are possibilities, but they can’t replace what actual humans do.

The discussion isn’t going anywhere soon. Whether it's directors worried about losing their craft, or leading men like Holland stating outright that creativity's not going anywhere, AI’s place in film and art is still very much up for debate.