For all the concerns surrounding AI, from fears that it will destroy jobs to predictions that it will could even wipe out humanity– A Hollywood star believes people may be making technology seem scarier than it actually is.
Ben Affleckthe actor and screenwriter, known for films like Hunting for good willbelieves growing fears around AI are largely “propaganda” – and once people sit down and use it, they realize it can be a tool for good.
“[Once] “It starts from this nebulous, abstract, scary alien thing – ‘It’s going to kill us all, we’re paperclips, and it’s going to kill half of all white-collar jobs, all this propaganda’ – and they actually see what it is, it’s like another form of computer science that uses tools and is a technological advance,” Affleck said recently told Bloomberg.
Affleck has been one of the industry’s most vocal proponents of AI technology. In 2022 he founded InterPositive, a AI-focused filmmaking startupand at the beginning of the year the time had come allegedly bought from Netflix for $587 million.
But when asked about the role of AI in the production of his new film AnimalsAffleck did not want to reveal exactly what role the technology plays in the production.
“I’m a little hesitant to point out what they are or even talk about them because in my business we try to promote the illusion of reality,” he said. “It’s like going to a magic show and the magician comes out and says, right before I start, I want you to know there’s another bunny down here, this guy’s a plant – that kind of ruins it.”
Affleck worries about AI’s impact on Gen Z and Gen Alpha – but believes Hollywood can adapt
Affleck, whose net worth is appreciated At $300 million, the company isn’t bullish on all aspects of AI. He’s particularly worried about how technology could impact education — and whether people will become too dependent on it.
“When I worry about AI, I worry about my kids in school, I worry about the 30 percent increase in the number of As awarded in colleges in the last three years,” Affleck said. “I worry about learned helplessness. I worry about responsible behavior.”
This tension between the use of AI as a tool and the over-reliance on it has become one of the central debates across all industries. In Hollywood, Affleck said he hasn’t seen AI being used to “cut costs or do hideous things.” Instead, he assumes that technology complements rather than replaces the workforce.
“It’s now being used on films that employ the same number of people – technically even employ more people,” Affleck said.
However, Affleck’s experience comes against a backdrop of declining employment in the broader film and video production industry. According to the Labor Department, the industry lost 49,000 jobs between 2016 and 2026, a decline of 21%.
From James Cameron to Matthew McConaughey, Hollywood is figuring out how to use AI
Affleck isn’t alone among Hollywood figures in arguing that AI is a technology the industry needs to embrace, even if they disagree about how it should be used and regulated.
billionaire James Cameronwho in particular directed The Terminator, has even gone so far as to take a formal role in the industry’s AI development, join the board of the AI company Stability AI in 2024.
Actor Natasha Lyonneknown for her roles in Netflix series Russian doll And Orange is the new black” has also embraced technology while emphasizing the importance of protecting artists’ rights. She is co-founder of Asteria Film Co., an artist-run animation and film studio dedicated to developing copyrighted generative AI for films and other creative works.
Lyonne has argued that Hollywood needs to be involved in shaping the development of AI rather than simply resisting it.
“I don’t think it’s completely kosher to just rob freely under the pretext of acceleration or China,” she said Assets‘s Brainstorm AI conference last year.
“We need people in AI so that the tools don’t control us,” Lyonne added.
Matthew McConaughey has reiterated the idea that Hollywood can’t just sit out the AI revolution.
“It’s not coming. It’s there,” he said said in a CNN City hall in February. McConaughey has allegedly has filed a series of trademarks covering his image and signature expressions to make it harder for AI companies or bad actors to simulate him without permission.
“Don’t deny it,” McConaughey said in a recent conversation with the actor Timothée Chalamet. “It’s not enough to stand idly by and morally assert that this is wrong. This won’t last.”