‘Animals’ Star Ben Affleck Has a Blunt Message for Anyone Afraid AI Will Take Their Job

Ben Affleck has spent more than three decades in Hollywood, but one of his more surprising ventures happened quietly. He founded the AI company InterPositive in 2022, and Netflix acquired it in March 2026. In July, Netflix confirmed in an SEC filing that it paid $587 million for the company.

As part of the deal, Affleck joined Netflix as a senior adviser. InterPositive builds tools that automate tasks like color grading, relighting and continuity fixes. The acquisition drew pushback, and Rest of World reported that it could put visual effects workers from Los Angeles to Mumbai at risk.

That tension is the backdrop for his latest comments as Affleck believes fears of job destruction and threats to humanity attributed to AI are pure propaganda. He made the remarks during a conversation with Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw at the Bloomberg Screentime summit in Los Angeles on Sept. 30.

His argument is that familiarity changes minds. Once filmmakers spend time with AI and gain a sense of control over it, he said, it stops being a vague, abstract and frightening alien. What people find instead is “another form of computing,” a tool in keeping with the long line of technological advances in film and television. He specifically dismissed scenarios in which AI wipes out half of white-collar jobs.

He also pointed to what he has seen on set. Affleck said he has not seen AI used simply to smash costs or do heinous things, and that productions using it are keeping the same number of people and, technically, employing more. Fortune notes that Labor Department data show the industry shed 49,000 jobs between 2016 and 2026, a 21% decline.

That does not make him an uncritical booster. His own worries, he said, are about kids in school, learned helplessness and responsible use of the technology. He dismissed Skynet-style fears and said he expects AI to be additive to the business.

There is also a personal stake in the argument. Affleck’s new Netflix thriller ‘Animals,’ which he directed, co-wrote and stars in alongside Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson, premieres on Oct. 9. He plays a Los Angeles mayoral candidate whose son is kidnapped.

Affleck confirmed that AI was used on the film for lots of things, but said he is hesitant to get into specifics. His reasoning is that filmmaking is about fostering the illusion of reality, much like a magician who will not spoil the trick. He called it a good example of ethical use because it is a very human movie.

Netflix has framed its AI strategy in similar terms. Chief content officer Bela Bajaria said new tools should expand creative freedom rather than replace the work of writers, directors, actors and crews. Affleck added that he does not believe AI will ever let a filmmaker type in a prompt and get a movie people want to see.

The debate is far from settled. Workers worried about automation are likely to point to the same deal that made Affleck a convert, while supporters will point to productions that keep their crews. ‘Animals’ arrives on Netflix on Oct. 9, giving audiences a chance to judge the results for themselves.

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