Ben Affleck shocks fans with surprisingly 'articulate' take about AI and Hollywood
- The award-winning actor, 52, addressed the 'threat' of tech on the industry
- Viewers were blown away by Ben's insight and applauded his response
- READ MORE: Jennifer Lopez's secret to getting over Ben Affleck revealed as she vows to 'try something new'
Ben Affleck is going viral with his shockingly 'articulate' take on how artificial intelligence (AI) will impact the future of Hollywood – and how he believes that the technology will not replace humans making movies.
The Good Will Hunting actor, 52, reasoned that AI will assist with the 'laborious' aspects of filmmaking, which will in turn help bring down the costs of large-scale productions, but that it shouldn't be viewed as a threat to the art.
Speaking at CNBC's Delivering Alpha 2024 investor summit on Sunday, Ben blew audiences away with an impassioned response.
'Movies will be one of the last things, if everything gets replaced, to be replaced by AI,' he declared.
'AI can write you excellent, imitative verse that sounds Elizabethan.
'It cannot write you Shakespeare.'
Ben Affleck is going viral with his shockingly 'articulate' take on how AI will impact the future of Hollywood
The actor declared that movies will be 'one of the last things' to be replaced by AI
He continued: 'What AI is going to do is going to disintermediate the more 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 Hunting to go out and make it.'
Ben described AI as 'craftsmen' at best. 'They're just cross-pollinating things that exist,' he said, adding: 'Nothing new is created.
'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.'
Viewers were blown away by Ben's expert insight and applauded his passionate response.
Taking to X, one said: 'Didn't expect Ben Affleck to have the most articulate and realistic explanation where video models and Hollywood is going.'
'I've never listened to Affleck before, but this is a response that shows a strong understanding of his industry and its likely relationship with AI,' another posted.
A third wrote: 'I think there's more to Ben Affleck than some people think.'
The award-winning actor and filmmaker is going through a divorce with Jennifer Lopez. Pictured together in 2023
'This is one of the most grounded takes on generative AI I've seen. People have yet to grasp that it imitates rather than creates,' a fourth said.
Ben is an acclaimed actor and filmmaker, and is the recipient of two Academy Awards.
He began his career as a child star, having made his acting debut at the age of eight in the indie film The Dark End of the Street in 1981.
Alongside Matt Damon, Ben gained worldwide recognition after writing and starring in the 1997 box office hit, Good Will Hunting, for which they won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
In 2012, he won the Academy Award for Best Picture with his political thriller, Argo, in which he starred and directed.
Newly single Ben recently split from his wife Jennifer Lopez in August after two years of marriage.
The former couple tied the knot in 2022 - but JLo notably filed for divorce on their second wedding anniversary.
Ben and Jennifer had previously dated in the early 2000s beginning in 2002.
But after postponing their wedding in 2003, the two stars officially separated the next year.
Last month in October, Lopez broke her silence on their split while talking to Interview Magazine - and described the separation as both 'sad' and 'scary.'
