In one of the opening shots of Un Chien Andalou, a 1929 French film co-written by Salvador Dalí, often cited as one of the first surrealist films, a young woman stares straight into the camera like razor blades in her eye.
OK, he didn’t actually get his eye ripped out, thanks to movie magic and all. But the film uses surrealism as a powerful new way of seeing and interpreting the world. It should shock us out of passive observation and spectatorship, and take us beyond human perception.
Last Thursday, as I sat in the lecture hall at the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, listening to a talk about emerging technologies and innovation in 2026, I hope there will be a discussion about the same revolutionary new methods of modernity.
But too often, when we talk about AI, we don’t face this technology that could change with our eyes wide open. Instead, whether it’s in small talk, social media posts or Super Bowl commercials, we get a one-sided marketing tone that glosses over the real risks and concerns surrounding AI.
Based on the audience’s questions during the Q&A, this is likely to be a real introduction to productive and physical AI for many of them. The group accepts everything uncritically, nodding and cheering as the speech paints a picture of a future completely changed for the better.
In another special event, we were shown a video of LG’s clothes-folding robot that debuted last month at the CES 2026 trade show in Las Vegas. After seeing the robot myself, I knew how slowly it wrapped around one t-shirt the size of a uniform. A robot that can really help with household chores is years away.
“Who wants this robot?” shouted the speaker, hands raised all over the room.
Is there any mention of technical limitations, such as the fact that you need human help to reach the hamper? Is there any mention of prohibited expenses? Of course not. The crowd left that room with their understanding of the AI created by someone who carefully avoided mentioning any technical downsides.
This is a problem.
People with platforms — whether they’re tech experts, museum curators or influencers with millions of followers — have a responsibility to tell the truth about AI. Not just the fun parts. Not just the parts that make good marketing. Everything.
Surrealism was deliberate and profound, rooted in our minds and our words and emotions. Generative AI is machine-driven pattern recognition. When we talk about AI, we need to face it with our eyes open.
When public figures highlight the capabilities of AI, they hide its dangers: the negative impact of nature, the tendency for chatbots to see things that are not there and make things better, how the use of AI affects memory skills and the increasing incidence of AI-indeed psychosis and suicide.
These risks are left out of the discussion; discussions that shape public opinion in a way that pleases a select few, not the world.
We have seen this dangerous pattern before.
Since a 2018 US Supreme Court ruling allowed states to legalize sports betting, celebrities and influencers have lined up to promote betting apps, cashing big checks while their fans face rising rates of gambling addiction and financial ruin.
The crypto boom of 2021 also brought a show of celebrities selling digital coins, many of which later crashed, leaving ordinary people with worthless assets. Kim Kardashian has settled with the SEC for $1.26 million in penalties for developing a crypto token without disclosing that she was paid to do so. Matt Damon told us that “fortune favors the brave” in the February 2022 Crypto.com Super Bowl ad that aged badly after that year’s crypto crash.
We are watching the same story unfold with AI. We’re seeing famous actors jump into Super Bowl commercials championing AI companies for 100 million people. Activists take money from AI companies to promote tools they may not even use or even understand, to an audience that has grown to trust.
The difference is that AI risk goes beyond financial loss. We are talking about the removal of jobs, the erosion of creative industries, the spread of misinformation at a high level, deepfakes that can destroy the reputation and, as mentioned before, the environmental costs of running these big models.
That’s why I love artists like Guillermo del Toro who speak the truth about AI. When the models referring to his unique visual style are widely used, he did not say a word about the productive AI trained for the work of artists without their permission, compensation or respect for copyright laws. He called it stealing.
Other artists and public figures alike have addressed the dangers of AI to their livelihoods and art. At the time, tech executives and developers dismissed these concerns as the latest wave of Luddism.
Amazon launched its Super Bowl ad, marketing Alexa Plus and its many AI features, with the help of Chris Hemsworth.
Although I generally believe that famous people are not role models to follow or trust, many people do. They think that if someone with information or a celebrity is passionately promoting something, it must be safe, profitable and inevitable. That public trust comes with responsibility.
If you’re going to insist on talking about AI publicly, took $600,000 to advertise Microsoft Copilot to millions on social media or, if you’re the NFL, partnered with an AI company to broadcast commercials during America’s biggest sporting event, you have a responsibility to present the full picture — especially to an audience that’s just learning about it.
Talk about limitations. Talk about the tasks being completed. Name the artists whose work is destroyed without permission to train these types. Accept the amazing power consumption. Explain how easy it is to tell a convincing lie. Disclose when you are being paid by an AI company to say what you say.
This doesn’t mean you can’t discuss the possibilities and benefits of AI. It has real potential to accelerate drug discovery, improve disease outcomes and solve complex problems. But to frame fencing as pure progress and innovation — as an intangible good — is either ignorant or delusional.
Like the surrealist work that emerged after World War I, AI is transformative, provocative and disturbing. Both challenge the way we see the world.
But surrealism was deliberate and deeply human, rooted in our minds and words and emotions. Generative AI is machine-driven pattern recognition. Surrealism was created to transcend conventions and reach ultimate truth and authenticity.
It’s still true now. The conversation around AI is happening, whether we like it or not, and it’s happening fast. The least we can ask is that the people leading that discussion tell us the facts of the matter.
