Ben Affleck Explains What A.I. Can and Can’t Do: ‘Art Is Knowing When to Stop’

Ben Affleck shot down fears of AI ruining the movie business in a detailed but succinct explanation of what AI can and can't do when it comes to art and craftsmanship.

"AI can write you excellent imitative verse that sounds Elizabethan. It cannot write you Shakespeare," Affleck explained at the 2024 CNBC Delivering Alpha investor summit.

His thoughts came in response to a question posed by CNBC Squawk on the Street co-anchor David Faber.

"Is it a benefit, or is it a real threat? Is it possible that a Netflix could say, you know, we're going to do our own, excuse me, James Bond thing out there with a bunch of actors that are completely recreated for this market or that market?" Faber asked.

Then Affleck launched into an incredibly smart take on the limitations and capabilities of AI.

"A., That's not possible now. B., Will it be possible in the future? Highly unlikely. C., Movies will be one of the last things, if everything gets replaced, to be replaced by AI," Affleck says.

"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.

"What AI is going to do is going to dis-intermediate the more laborious, less creative, and more costly aspects of filmmaking, that will allow costs to be brought down, that will lower the barrier to entry, that will allow more voices to be heard, that will make it easier for the people want to make Good Will Huntings, to go out and make it."

Then Affleck went on to explain his view that AI has the ability to imitate but not create new art.

"Look 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. That's how large video models, large language models, basically work. A library of vectors of meaning and transformers that interpret it the context, right? But they're just cross pollinating things that exist. Nothing new is created," Affleck says.

"Not yet," Faber countered. But Affleck maintained his point.

"Not yet, and really, in order to do that, look — 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," he says.

Also Read: Ben Affleck Turned Down a Pitch for a Good Will Hunting Sequel

Affleck is an actor, writer, and director known for starring in and co-writing the Academy Award winning film Good Will Hunting opposite Matt Damon, with whom he co-founded production company Artists Equity. Affleck has also directed films including The Town, Argo, and Air.

So basically, Affleck isn't worried about the parts of the movie business that he's a part of — but he does fear for the visual effects industry.

More From Ben Affleck on AI and the Future of the Movie Industry

"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 it 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 says.

"It may make your background more convincing. It can change the color of your shirt. It can fix mistakes that you've made. It can make it, you know, you might be able to get two seasons of House of the Dragon in a year instead of one. And if that happens, according to macroeconomics, in, you know, cultures where there are basically oligopolies competing, what should happen is with the same demand and the same spend is they should just make more shows. Which, you should have the same spend, and now you can just watch more episodes."

Then Affleck explained his hopes for AI to replace the revenue stream Hollywood lost from DVDs when streaming came around.

"Eventually, AI will allow you to ask for your own episode of Succession where you could say, 'I'll pay $30 and can you make me a 45 minute episode where, like, Kendall gets the company and runs off and has an affair with Stewie.' And it'll do it, and it'll be a little janky and a little bit weird, but it'll know their set, it'll know those actors. And it will remix it, in effect, and it will do that," he says.

"That's the value, in my view, long term of AI for consumers. Which is eventually my hope for AI, is that it's an additional revenue stream that can replace DVD, which took 15 to 20% out of the economy of filmmaking."

He continued: "There should be negotiated rights and visual rights that say, if you wanted — because people want to make five minute, 30-second TikTok videos where they look like the Avengers. Well, great. Just like you used to be able to buy your Iron Man costume at the store, you're going to buy your Iron Man pack, and you and your buddies are gonna look like Iron Man and Hawkeye on Twitch. That's what's gonna really happen."

You can watch Affleck's full remarks below.

Main Image: Ben Affleck at CNBC's 2024 Defining Alpha investor summit, CNBC.