I’ve to confess, I’ve at all times been a bit mystified by Ben Affleck, film star. Not that he’s a nasty actor by any means, however his performances have a tendency to go away me somewhat underwhelmed, and I usually discover there’s one thing off-putting about his interviews.
That stated, he’s clearly no fool, displaying most likely extra expertise behind the digital camera than in entrance of it. Whereas I don’t wish to perpetuate the widely unfair stereotype of the silly actor, I’ll admit I are typically extra impressed, when it comes to mind, by those that write and direct—each of which Affleck does very nicely.
(An virtually full digression right here, however I’ve to work in that nice quote by Mike Nichols, which I’m about 90% certain got here from a William Goldman e book. When requested if he had met any really clever actors, he answered, “Anthony Perkins is sensible, and Richard Burton has one thing.”)
Affleck can also be a pointy businessman, all of which makes him a fairly good instance of “sensible institution Hollywood.” Just by advantage of who he’s, his opinion on AI is of curiosity right here, maybe extra so as a result of it’s extra clear-eyed and insightful than that of simply 98% of the people who find themselves paid to have opinions on the topic.
I ought to most likely warn everybody that the video is sponsored by a playing website, however I doubt the readership of this specific weblog is their goal market.
After this interview, Affleck confronted some accusations of hypocrisy when it got here out that he had quietly began an AI firm, which he has since bought to Netflix for probably a substantial amount of cash (the deal is contingent on varied metrics). Personally, I don’t see the difficulty right here. His firm seems to be centered solely on utilizing generative AI as a post-production software, specializing in areas like modifying and visible results. Two of the examples he gave had been background replacements and incorrect lighting, all completely legit makes use of of the expertise.
