This new documentary turns AI anxiety into something more personal

As he prepares for fatherhood, filmmaker Daniel Roher seeks clarity from the people shaping AI and discovers how little consensus actually exists.

Is it even worth having a kid in the AI era?

It’s the question at the heart of The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, a new documentary about the promise, peril, and uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence. Codirected by Charlie Tyrell and Academy Award winner Daniel Roher, the film follows Roher, a soon-to-be father, as he tries to understand how AI works, what risks it may carry, and what kind of world he and his wife are bringing their son into.

Along the way, he encounters both AI’s loudest skeptics and its most ardent utopians. The film features dozens of experts, including CEOs like OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, longtime researchers concerned about the future, and critics like Tristan Harris, who also appeared in the 2020 documentary The Social Dilemma about the harms of social media.

Ahead of its theatrical release on March 27, the film screened at SXSW, where AI hype and anxiety have been everywhere. While in Austin, Fast Company sat down with Tyrell and producer Ted Tremper to talk about the film, their process, and why the movie resonates—why, for example, after screenings, when the lights come up, strangers start talking to each other. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

What inspired you to create this film?

Tremper: The purpose of the film is we wanted to make something that would—regardless of who you are, where you are—meet you where you’re at and create the invitation to ask yourself, What do I value? What are the things I care about? What are the things I value about my work and life? How can I develop intuitions about how the technology is being built so I can look out for what I need to protect and also the ways that it can benefit me?

Artificial Intelligence

Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin on Turning AI Into a Competitive Advantage

© Fast Company