The Directors Guild of Canada has come out against the use of artificial intelligence not recognizing and protecting the rights of content creators.

“A creative work is not simply a product designed to fill a platform, feed an algorithm, or capture attention before disappearing into an endless digital stream. Art is an act of creative expression,” the DGC said in a Manifesto on the Value of Human Creativity issued during the Banff World Media Festival, where Canadian content producers, funding politicians and regulators are discussing the future of the country’s media sectors in an AI age.

The guild said its membership, which includes directors, editors, craftspeople and other key people on film and TV sets, help shape the work audiences view and experience.

“But efficiency is not creativity. Automation is not collaboration. Prediction is not imagination. AI systems are trained on what already exists. Human creativity imagines what does not. Creative decisions are shaped not only by data, but by empathy, ethical judgment, lived experience, and creative instinct. Creative works matter because they are shaped by people who are imperfect, contradictory, emotional, and alive. Humanity is not a flaw in the creative process. “It is the point,” the DGC manifesto asserted.

Canadian film and TV producers are increasingly adopting AI in their pipelines for cost and time savings, even as they voice concerns for job losses and IP theft. The DGC insisted AI challenges extend beyond economics and jobs to questions of authorship, artistic expression and the future of storytelling.

“We therefore affirm that every creative worker’s rights, including consent, attribution and control over their work, must be recognized and protected. No member of this guild should discover that their role or work has been handed to a machine after the fact,” the guild argued. The DGC insisted art is not mere “content,” but an expression of human experience not designed to serve algorithms and audience engagement solely.

“Technology must remain in service to humanity, not the other way around. Human creativity is not an inefficiency to be optimized away. Storytelling is one of humanity oldest and most powerful forms of expression, and we must ensure that the people who create artistic works continue to shape the future,” Warren P. Sonoda, DGC national president, added in a statement.

The Banff World Media Festival continues through Wednesday.