"Matt and Ben are so obsessed with DVD revenue" — Internet reacts to Ben Affleck's impassioned take on how AI will impact movie industry

Actor Ben Affleck who is also the co-founder & CEO of Artists Equity, appeared at the CNBC Delivering Alpha summit, which took place on November 13, 2024. During the discussion, Ben stated that he didn't believe that AI could affect the entertainment industry. He said:

"AI can write you excellent, imitative verse...It cannot write you Shakespeare."

The actor, however, stated that he believed that the usage of technology might "dis-intermediate the more laborious, less creative, and more costly aspects of filmmaking that will allow costs to be brought down." Affleck repeatedly mentioned that AI could only "imitate" and not "innovate."

Ben Affleck's take on AI and its impact attracted a massive response on the internet. A user (@JohnnySquawkins) wrote on X, about the founders of Artists Equity Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. According to the tweet:

"Matt and Ben are so obsessed with DVD revenue 🤣."

Another one wrote:

"Now i understand why he an jlo didn’t work."

"Damn! I've also never heard anyone outside of tech use the word 'janky' before. So who is ben hanging out with??" added a tweet.

"So in other words, AI is imitative, not creative. Kind of what we have now," mentioned another user.

Others described him to be quite smart for the statements that he made. A user tweeted:

"Him and Matt Damon are one of the few smart actors in Hollywood."

"My boy here is wicked smaht," commented a netizen.

"I am truly blown away by the nuance and fluidity of his articulation," wrote another one.

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Ben Affleck suggested an AI-generated ending to American drama series Succession

While discussing the impact of AI on the future of storytelling and creativity, Affleck decided to give an alternate ending to the satirical black comedy-drama series, Succession. He spoke about the possibility of the character Kendall Roy, portrayed by Jeremy Strong taking over the company in the end.

The Justice League actor further spoke on it and added:

"AI will allow you to ask for your episode of ‘Succession’ where you could say, ‘I’ll pay you $30 and can you make me a 45-minute episode where like Kendall gets the company and runs off and has an affair with Stewy?’ and it’ll do it, and it will be a little janky and a little weird but it will know the sass and those actors and it will remix it in effect. That is the value long-term."

Not just Ben Affleck, but his brother Casey Affleck also considered AI to be "empowering" in nature, as per reports by AV Club.

At the annual Fall Benefit event held on Thursday, November 14, by The Center at West Park, Casey Affleck told IndieWire about the usage of AI tools in the industry. According to Casey, one should be careful while incorporating AI in the creative process.

Casey, however, also believed that access to these AI tools might give a chance to more people to be imaginative and creative. It could thus, be concluded that both the Affleck brothers suggested that the impact of AI in the creative process is positive, while addressing its limitations.