I’m directing a Netflix movie about AI

A fictional story about very real things

I first found myself immersed in the community of people working at the frontier of this technology years ago—maybe 2017 or 2018. Even back then, it seemed most everyone was excited about the potential good it could do for the world, AND simultaneously worried about its potential to do grave harm. And at the time, I remember asking:

“Hey, maybe someone should make a movie about this stuff? If it really could get as bad as you’re saying, maybe it’d be good for people to know?”

All the insiders discouraged me from doing it. AI was not on the world’s radar, and that seemed like probably a good thing. Nobody wanted it to get more hyped, draw in more investment dollars, or become politically polarized.

Then, all of a sudden, AI became ubiquitous. Everyone was talking about it. Some of the chatter seemed productive. Most of it seemed counterproductive, either serving big business interests, or serving as click bait. I went around to some of the same folks who had discouraged me years prior.

“Now should someone make a movie?” I asked.

“Yes!” they replied. Little did they know how long that can take.

I started the writing process then, towards the end of 2022. Mostly by talking to a ton of experts: people who worked inside the tech companies, people in academia, government, think tanks, lots of different people.

I asked my friend Kieran Fitzgerald to write the script with me. He and I first met when he co-wrote Snowden with Oliver Stone. We outlined a story together with Natasha Lyonne. We asked my dear old Brick Brothers Rian and Ram to produce it.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am that Rachel McAdams is going to play the lead. I will gush more about her plenty over the next couple years, but the heart and soul she’ll bring to this is so, so crucial.

And, I’m delighted to say the movie has landed at Netflix. Biggest audience in the world. It’s exactly what I was hoping for, and I’m deeply grateful it’s coming together. Huge thanks to Doug and Dan for getting behind this project.

Even though there’s more hype than ever, I tend to agree with the common claim that AI will change the world as much as the Industrial Revolution, but way faster. The question is: will that change be for the better or the worse? And I think the answer is: we don’t know yet. Personally I don’t agree with the extreme optimists or the extreme pessimists, because I don’t think anything about this is inevitable. As my friend Michele Jawando recently said:

“AI is not destiny. It is design.”

The more aware we are about what’s going on, the more likely I think we are to end up in a bright future. I hope this movie can be a worthwhile part of the conversation. I’ll have much more to say over the next couple years as this project unfolds. For now, I’ll just say thanks.. 🔴