Ben Affleck says AI won’t destroy film industry: ‘Not possible’

Ben Affleck does not support the notion that AI will destroy the film industry.

During the discussion on panel at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha investors summit, Affleck shared his thoughts on if Artificial Intelligence will destroy the films in future.

He argued that “movies will be one of the last things, if everything gets replaced, to be replaced by AI,” adding that AI creating movies from scratch “not possible now. Will it be possible in the future? Highly unlikely.”

“AI can write you an excellent imitative verse that sounds Elizabethan. It cannot write you Shakespeare. The function of having two actors, or three or four actors, in a room and the taste to discern and construct that is something that currently entirely alludes AI’s capability and I think will for a meaningful period of time,” Affleck explained.

Additionally, Affleck shared his beliefs that AI could be beneficial for movie making in future.

He said, “AI is a craftsman at best. Craftsmen can learn to make Stickley Furniture by sitting down next to somebody and seeing what their technique is and imitating, They’re just cross-pollinating things that exist. Nothing new is created. Not yet.”

“Craftsman is knowing how to work. Art is knowing when to stop. And I think knowing when to stop is going to be a very difficult thing for AI to learn because it’s [about] taste, lack of consistency, lack of controls, lack of quality,” the actor added.

In conclusion, Affleck suggested, “it’s not gonna replace human beings making films. It may make your background more convincing, it can change the color of your shirt, it can fix mistakes you’ve made. It can make it so you might be able to get two seasons of House of the Dragon in a year instead of one.”