Ben Affleck had a surprisingly thoughtful and smart take on AI which is going viral on social media. The actor-filmmaker was present at 2024 CNBC Delivering Alpha investor summit, where he talked about the limitations of AI and said “movies will be one of the last things to be replaced by AI.” Several users on social media were surprised to see Ben deliver such a balanced take with so much conviction, more so because he is constantly in the media because of updates relating to his personal life. (Also read: Jennifer Lopez ‘refusing to give up’ on Ben Affleck, using ‘family time’ to rekindle things amid divorce)

What Ben said

During the conversation, Ben said, “AI can write you excellent imitative verse that sounds Elizabethan. It cannot write you Shakespeare. 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 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.”

Fan reactions

Reacting to the clip on X, a fan commented, “Didn’t expect Ben Affleck to have the most articulate and realistic explanation where video models and Hollywood is going.” Another said, “Everyone is so surprised whenever Affleck is revealed to be quite intelligent. Why did you think there were so many candid shots of him out there looking miserable?” A second fan noted, “Every time someone gets shocked by how smart Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are I just think “did y’all forget where they went to school?” ”This actually is really amazing, I had no idea he had such a vocabulary. This makes me want to go watch ‘gone girl’” read a comment.

Ben studied Middle Eastern affairs at Occidental College for a year and a half after which he left to focus on acting. He then co-wrote the screenplay of Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon. The film ultimately won them the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Ben has been in the news due to his relationship with Jennifer Lopez. The two were briefly engaged to be married in 2005 but eventually called it off and broke up. They both went on to date and even marry other people before rekindling their romance in 2021. Jennifer and Ben eventually got married in 2022 but filed for divorce just two years later, in August 2024.