(Bloomberg) — Ben Affleck said he’s more worried about the impact of artificial intelligence on children and society than he is about the filmmaking industry.
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“When I worry about AI, I worry about like my kids in school,” Affleck said at the annual Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “I worry about the 30% rise in the number of A’s given out at colleges over the last three years. I worry about learned helplessness. I worry about responsible use.”
What he doesn’t worry about is AI’s impact on Hollywood.
“I don’t think that it’s going to take over this business in any meaningful way,” Affleck said. “I think it’s going to be additive.”
Affleck said when he first saw a demonstration of the new technology at OpenAI, he “kind of had a heart attack.” He called his longtime filmmaking partner Matt Damon and said, “Dude, we have to do like as many movies in the next few years” as possible, “because we’re finished.”
But instead of running and hiding, Affleck got to work creating his own AI business. Affleck’s company, InterPositive, uses AI to help moviemakers perform tasks such as adjusting colors, applying visual effects and reframing shots. The tools are designed to be applied to a film in postproduction, not used to create a new one from scratch.
“More people are being employed,” Affleck said. “We’re trying to make what we’re doing better. We’re not just trying to slash costs.”
The actor sold the four-year-old artificial intelligence startup to Netflix Inc. in March for $587 million in cash.
The 54-year-old first came to prominence in Kevin Smith-directed comedies like Mallrats and Chasing Amy. In 1998, Affleck and fellow actor Damon won a best original screenplay Oscar for their film Good Will Hunting, in which they also starred. Affleck’s film Argo, about the rescue of US diplomats in Iran, won best picture in 2013.
Four years ago, Affleck and Damon founded Artists Equity, a film production company with funding from RedBird Capital Partners. The firm, which aims to give the talent a greater share of the profits from their work, has produced pictures such as 2023’s Michael Jordan-sneaker drama Air and this year’s Netflix action thriller The Rip, which also stars the duo.
