Tony Leung at SIFF: "AI Has No Soul." Hong Kong Star Closes Shanghai Festival With a Verdict on AI

Tony Leung Chiu-wai served as jury head for the Golden Goblet competition at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, which ran June 12 to 21, 2026. In remarks at the festival, the Hong Kong cinema legend, whose credits include In the Mood for Love, Hero, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, delivered one of the clearest verdicts on AI creativity from any actor of his standing.

His judgment came not from distance, but from daily use.

"There's No Soul"

In remarks during the festival, Leung offered a precise account of what he sees AI doing to cinema. "I think AI is a double-edged sword," he said. "It saves us a lot of time on pre-production and post-production. It saves a lot of money but this will go to mainstream movies, the popcorn ones — because [AI filmmaking] is easier and saves money. But at the same time, a lot of people have lost their jobs. You don't need to think. There's no creativity. It's just calculations … there's no soul."

The statement drew a line between two categories of film. Mainstream production, in Leung's view, can absorb AI without loss: cost and speed define it, and AI delivers both. The kind of filmmaking he cares about cannot, because what it produces depends on irreducible human feeling.

He illustrated the distinction with a single image: "Looking at an original painting by Van Gogh gives a completely different feeling than a Van Gogh style generated by AI."

The AI He Uses Every Day

The verdict came from a filmmaker who uses AI himself. Leung told THR that he turns to AI tools "almost every day" for research, as a way to have terms explained and to gather materials on abstract concepts he wants to understand for his work. He described it as a practical part of his preparation process.

The distinction he drew is between AI as an information tool and AI as a replacement for artistic judgment. Retrieving knowledge, in his view, is a function AI performs well. Making the choices that transform knowledge into feeling is where the calculation stops and the soul begins.

A Festival Betting on Both Sides

SIFF 2026 took a different institutional position. The festival ran an AI Backlot program in partnership with Hailuo AI, pairing traditional and AI filmmakers to produce short films in an open set studio environment. Its AI Technology Unit positioned Shanghai as a hub for AI-integrated production in a country whose AI industry is valued at approximately $174 billion.

The AI conversation ran through the audience, not just the official programming. Actress Xin Zhilei, a member of Leung's jury, disclosed during the festival that she had consulted the Chinese AI app Doubao for advice during her time at SIFF. The admission drew laughs. It was a small indicator of how casually AI tools have moved into professional creative life, even among jurors sitting alongside a man who had just declared them soulless.

Leung's Jury and What He Plans Next

The Golden Goblet competition jury Leung led included directors Guan Hu and Aktan Arym Kubat, filmmakers Déa Kulumbegashvili and Fernanda Valadez, producer Dora Bouchoucha, and actress Xin Zhilei. The group represented work from China, Central Asia, Georgia, Mexico, and Tunisia. Leung had said before the festival that he would work to persuade fellow jurors toward his taste rather than defer to consensus.

Beyond SIFF, Leung has three projects in development. A new film with director Johnnie To is underway. An India project would mark his first production outside Greater China, and a serial killer drama series is also in preparation.

He remains, at 62, one of the most active and internationally recognized figures in Asian cinema. Creators generating work in formats he described as "calculations" can start in AI FILMS Studio's video workspace and explore China's broader AI filmmaking landscape that SIFF 2026 so directly reflected.

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Sources

The Hollywood Reporter | Variety | Deadline