John Waters has no interest in letting artificial intelligence anywhere near his writing process. The man behind Pink Flamingos and Hairspray has spent five decades crafting wickedly original work entirely by hand, and that has not changed with the times. The cult filmmaker recently made his stance impossible to miss, mixing sharp humor with a surprisingly firm line. What came out of it was equal parts hilarious and pointed.

While most filmmakers tiptoe around the AI question, Waters skipped the diplomacy entirely and went straight for a verdict dripping with personality.

John Waters has finally settled the AI question tied to his work. The Hairspray director wants artificial intelligence nowhere near his creative process, full stop. He gives a clear and specific reason: he saw AI attempt to write for him, and the result simply did not meet his standards. Even as he spends weeks hand-writing introductions for this year's Mosswood Meltdown lineup, machines simply have no seat at his desk.

"I would use AI to cure cancer," Waters said, speaking with Billboard, making clear that writing never made that list.

He further explained, "But not to write, no. I saw something that was written supposedly for me by AI, and it was just like a really bad first draft, but yes, it was a first draft," making it clear that machines, in his world, belong in laboratories, not near his typewriter.

Waters did not stop at writing, extending his thoughts in the Billboard conversation to AI image generation as well. He once assumed the technology might suit adult content, only to discover that everything it produces looks unnervingly polished and fake. That realism, he noted, strips away the very texture he finds compelling. Meanwhile, his own writing routine remains stubbornly analog, built around weeks of research handed over by his assistant and the festival booker before a single line gets typed.

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Waters is far from alone in this resistance, as some of Hollywood's biggest names share his exact same stance.

Guillermo del Toro has called generative AI a form of natural stupidity, insisting real art requires human risk and emotion that no machine can replicate. Rian Johnson has been equally blunt, dismissing the technology as something that worsens every part of filmmaking it touches. James Cameron keeps it out of performance entirely, banning AI-generated acting from his Avatar films and warning that it produces only mediocrity. Hayao Miyazaki went further still, branding early AI animation an insult to life itself.

Beyond individual filmmakers, more than four hundred Hollywood directors, actors, and writers have signed open letters opposing unauthorized AI training on their work. Unions like SAG-AFTRA continue pushing for protections against deepfakes and synthetic performers replacing real talent. Bong Joon-ho has even joked about assembling a squad to fight back, a sign of how seriously the industry takes this issue. John Waters, ever the outlier with style, simply prefers his notebook over any algorithm.

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What are your thoughts on John Waters wanting AI only for medicine, not his writing? Let us know in the comments.