Minds, machines and movies: a process approach to film education in the AI era

The incorporation of artificial intelligence into filmmaking has intensified long-standing debates about the relationship between artistic practice, technology, and human agency. Acknowledging the distinction between human and artificial creativity, this article proposes an AI literacy framework for film education that builds upon and expands principles of visual literacy. Rather than treating AI as a neutral technology, our theorization conceptualizes AI as a visual mediating system capable of reshaping processes of intentional creation, meaning-making and intellectual autonomy; that is, conditions historically associated with meaningful creative practice and human flourishing. Specifically, we argue that focus should be given to how AI alters the cognitive and interpretive processes through which film students are set to create. At the intersection of film aesthetics, philosophy, and literacy research, the article outlines the foundations of a literacy framework aimed at preserving creative agency in film creation. It concludes that film education should enable students to engage AI critically and reflectively, thus ensuring that human intention remains central to cinematic meaning-making.