Two new documentaries, “Deepfaking Sam Altman” and “The AI Doc,” are exploring the utopian and dystopian visions of artificial intelligence. The films examine a technology that is depicted as a ravenous parasite devouring humanity's knowledge, creativity and empathy, while also highlighting its potential to enlighten and enrich people.
The documentaries coincide with an intensifying debate about whether AI will become a catalyst for good or a technological toxin that dulls human intelligence and wipes out millions of high-paying jobs. The AI buildup over the past three years has already resulted in a $12 trillion increase in the combined market values of major tech companies like Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Tesla, stoking worries about an investment bubble.
“Deepfaking Sam Altman,” directed by Adam Bhala Lough, probes AI by relying on a virtual doppelganger of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Lough created a “Sam Bot” after failing to secure an interview with Altman, demonstrating the technology's penchant for manipulation. The documentary has been shown in select US theatres.
“The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist,” co-directed by Charlie Tyrell and Daniel Roher, digs into the divide between doomsayers and acolytes. It features interviews with AI fanatics and skeptics, including renowned “doomer” Eliezer Yudkowsky and technology zealot Peter Diamandis. The film also casts a spotlight on AI lab leaders Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Demis Hassabis.
Roher, who also unsuccessfully tried to interview Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and xAI's Elon Musk, embarks on a quest for hope amid his existential worries about AI, culminating in the concept of an “apocaloptimist.” However, the documentary seems unlikely to turn viewers into optimists, much like Stanley Kubrick's “Dr. Strangelove” did not elicit warm feelings about nuclear technology.
