Ben Affleck Says He Used AI for ‘Lots Of Things’ in His New Movie ‘Animal’

"And in fact, I thought it was a good example because it’s a very human movie"

Ben Affleck confirmed he put AI to use in his upcoming film Animals. Speaking to Bloomberg Screentime, Affleck said he “used it for lots of things in that movie.”

“I’m a little bit hesitant to point out what they are or even talk about it because, in my business, we’re trying to foster the illusion of reality, right?” Affleck said. “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. This guy’s a plant.’ It sort of ruins it, right?”

He continued, “But yes, we did use it. And in fact, I thought it was a good example because it’s a very human movie. It’s not in space. It doesn’t have visual effects. But it allowed us to move in some cases more quickly, really mostly in post-production, to do things that otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to do.”

Animals, out via Netflix on Oct. 9, was directed and co-written by Affleck. He stars in the film as Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball, whose son is kidnapped. Kerry Washington plays his wife.

Affleck sold his AI company InterPositive to Netflix in March for $587 million. The actor and filmmaker founded the company in 2022 and served as its CEO. He now has a senior advisor role. Affleck discussed the company’s work during interview, including how he trained the AI model and how it differs from other AI models.

“I was concerned that most of the models being used had trained on my peers, people I know’s work, and I was uncomfortable that,” he said. “I thought, ‘That’s not really a viable business.’ So I sort of created that last layer, which was an understanding of cinema and cinematic components.”

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He explained that the workflow is designed to “train from a filmmaker while they’re making their movie.” That way the filmmaker retains the “proprietary nature” of the work. “They benefit from the learning they’re creating,” Affleck said. “They train their own discrete model. … It’s meant [to not] replace people, not eliminate. I don’t believe there will ever be just type it in and make a movie that people want to see.”

Affleck also discussed his approach to AI with The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s premiere last night. “What I’m trying to do is actually bring this technology into our business, into a place where these companies who are guild signatories, who have relationships with the creative community, who aren’t going to just go ahead and put you in a movie without your permission and without paying you.” he said. “That can’t be said for a lot of tech platforms and other spaces where we don’t just abjure this technology and allow others to take it and dominate it, and then weaken ourselves.”