Ben Affleck Sparks Debate By Bluntly Breaking Down How A.I. Will Affect The Film Industry

The use of AI technology in Hollywood has been a controversial topic among filmmakers and studio exes, with some touting its benefits while others are vehemently against it.

Ben Affleck polarized the internet with an articulate defense of AI's long-term effects on the entertainment industry during a discussion at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha 2024 investor summit.

When asked by David Faber of Squawk on the Street if AI was a benefit or a real threat facing actors whose voices and likenesses could be digitally replicated and eventually replaced by the fast-evolving technology, the Good Will Hunting co-star and co-writer said:

“Movies will be one of the last things, if everything gets replaced, to be replaced by AI.”

The 52-year-old two-time Academy Award winner continued:

“AI can write you excellent, imitative verse that sounds Elizabethan. It cannot write you Shakespeare.”

Affleck noted how the chemistry of having a number of actors in a room and "the taste" of the experience was something that will continue to elude AI's capabilities.

However, he predicted what AI would do is "disintermediate the laborious, less creative and more costly aspects of filmmaking that will allow costs to be brought down, that will lower the barrier for entry, that will allow more voices to be heard, that will make it easier for the people that want to make ‘Good Will Huntings’ to go out and make it.”

You can watch a clip of his statements here.

Affleck compared AI to the role of a “craftsman," and delved further into analyzing the analogy, explaining:

"Craftsmen can learn to make Stickley Furniture by sitting down next to somebody and seeing what their technique is and imitating. That’s how large video models, large language models, basically work."

"They’re just cross-pollinating things that exist. Nothing new is created. 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 taste. And also lack of consistency, lack of controls, lack of quality."

“Library of vectors of meaning and transformers that interpret it in context, right? But they’re just cross-pollinating things that exist. Nothing new is created."

He perfectly summed up his example, saying, “Craft is knowing how to work. Art is knowing when to stop."

Affleck mentioned a specific department in the industry that would be hit the hardest.

“AI for this world of generative video, is going to do key things more, meaning - I wouldn’t like to be in the visual effects business, they’re in trouble."

"Because what costs a lot of money is now going to cost a lot less. And it’s going to hammer that space and already is and maybe it shouldn’t take a thousand people to render something but it’s not going to replace human beings making films.”

He also suggested viewers will have the ability to control the outcomes of some of their favorite shows.

“Eventually, AI will allow you to ask for your own episode of Succession, he said as an example.

"You could say, ‘I’ll pay $30, and could you make me a 40-minute episode where, like, Kendall gets the company and runs off and has an affair with Stewy.’ And it’ll do it."

People were floored by the Batman actor's eye-opening observations.

Discerning social media users challenged the A-lister with their thoughts.

But, not so fast.

Interestingly, film execs have advocated for the use of AI.

Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger invoked the company founder's name to defend new advancements in tech.

"Walt Disney himself was a big believer in using technology in the early days to tell better stories," said Iger during an event for Canva, the online designing platform company, of which he is an investor and board member.

He added, "And he thought that technology in the hands of a great storyteller was unbelievably powerful."

Gladiator director Ridley Scott also admitted to using "plenty of AI" for scenes in the upcoming Gladiator II, and he encouraged people to "embrace" computerization and AI.

Meanwhile, many actors have been vocally against it, including Nicholas Cage. When asked about his concern about his likeness being scanned for digital replication, the Longlegs star said:

"They’re just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital AI."

"God, I hope not A.I. I’m terrified of that. I’ve been very vocal about it."

Widespread usage of AI was a point of contention in last year's drawn-out SAG/AFTRA strike.

Actors fearing they would lose out on roles and be replaced by digital doubles fought for protections against such threats to their livelihood.