Oscar-winning filmmakers behind ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ and ‘Navalny’ have released ‘The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist’, a documentary exploring the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity.
Co-directed by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell and co-produced by Daniel Kwan, the film took nearly three years to complete despite initial plans to finish in a single year.
The documentary aims to provide a broad, accessible view of AI, asking what it is, its benefits and risks, and what audiences need to know.
It features interviews with over 40 experts, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, and the Amodei siblings from Anthropic, alongside Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology.
Roher describes the film’s perspective as that of a regular person trying to understand AI. The term ‘apocaloptimist’ reflects the film’s central philosophy, acknowledging both the potential for catastrophic consequences and opportunities for positive change.
Visually, the documentary avoids conventional digital approaches, using stop-motion animation, hand-drawn sketches and other analogue techniques to illustrate complex ideas.
The filmmakers hope audiences will experience it in theatres, where the cinematic approach encourages discussion and reflection.
Producers emphasise that the documentary assumes no prior knowledge of AI. Roher and his team hope the film sparks dialogue and collective awareness about a technology that will shape the near future, influencing jobs, safety and society at large.
