Ben Affleck Says ‘Animals' Used “Lots of AI," But He Won't Tell You Where

Ben Affleck has a confession that won't sit well with everyone. Speaking at the Bloomberg Screentime conference Wednesday night, he revealed that his upcoming Netflix film "Animals," due October 9, relied heavily on AI.

This isn't just any AI, though. These are tools built by InterPositive, Affleck's own startup, which Netflix recenly acquired for nearly $600M. Affleck walked the crowd through how they built a model tailored specifically for cinematic shots: they took an open-source model and fed it thousands of hours of footage.

So which scenes in “Animals” used it? Don't bother asking. Affleck refused to say, explaining that he wants to "foster the illusion of reality." He compared it to a magician giving away his tricks before the show. He did argue that "Animals" is a strong showcase for how these tools can be used, precisely because “Animals” is a mid-budget movie with barely any need for effects.

It's sort of like if you went to a magic show and the magician walked out and said, 'Just before I start, I want you to know there's another bunny under here. [And] this guy's a plant.' You know, it's sort of ruined, right? But yes, we did use it, and in fact, I thought it was a good example [of how to use AI ethically] because it's a very human movie.

Affleck also threw cold water on the idea that we'll see a fully AI-generated feature anytime soon, pointing to how complicated and expensive that would be.

"I think actually it may end up being bounded by the constraints of physics and energy before you reach a place where it could actually do that," Affleck said. "I feel this is one of the least likely domains to be disintermediated by AI."

Affleck is probably right that a fully AI-made movie is further off than the doomsayers think. But refusing to say where the AI is in "Animals" won't calm anybody down. It just means a lot of people will spend the whole movie trying to spot it.

Affleck cast himself in the lead role of "Animals," alongside Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, and Gillian Anderson. Connor McIntyre wrote the script, with revisions by the always-reliable Billy Ray. The story follows an L.A. mayoral candidate (Affleck) and his wife (Washington), whose son is kidnapped. With most of their money gone to campaign spending, they have just a few hours to "get their hands dirty" and come up with the ransom.

Although I wouldn't call myself a major fan of his filmography, Affleck in the director's chair is always an interesting proposition. He's directed four fairly well-reviewed films ("Gone Baby Gone," "The Town," "Argo," and "Air"), including a Best Picture winner ("Argo"), plus one infamous misfire ("Live by Night").