The Latest AI Documentary Asks: Just How Scared Should We Be? | WIREDSkip to main contentMenuSECURITYPOLITICSTHE BIG STORYBUSINESSSCIENCECULTUREREVIEWSMenuAccountAccountNewslettersSecurityPoliticsThe Big StoryBusinessScienceCultureReviewsChevronMoreExpandThe Big InterviewMagazineEventsWIRED InsiderWIRED ConsultingNewslettersPodcastsVideoLivestreamsMerchSearchSearchMiles KleeCultureMar 27, 2026 7:00 AMThe Latest AI Documentary Asks: Just How Scared Should We Be?The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist seeks the middle ground on a polarizing technology—and ends up letting tech execs like Sam Altman off the hook.Still from The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist.Courtesy of Focus FeaturesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyIt’s not easy to get an interview with Sam Altman—just ask Adam Bhala Lough, the filmmaker behind the recent documentary Deepfaking Sam Altman.Lough originally planned a feature exploring the potential and perils of AI that would center on a conversation with the OpenAI CEO. But, after having his inquiries ignored for months, he opted instead to commission a chatbot that mimicked Altman’s speech patterns and approximated his facial expressions by way of a digital avatar.The real Altman did sit down, however, for the new feature The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, which hits theaters March 27. So did Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, and Demis Hassabis, a cofounder and CEO of Google’s DeepMind Technologies. (Though the filmmakers say they requested interviews with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and X’s Elon Musk, neither made an appearance.)It’s an impressive level of access for codirector and documentary protagonist Daniel Roher, whose 2022 documentary Navalny, about the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, won an Academy Award. The problem is that once they’re on camera, Altman et al. say little we haven’t heard before—and they skate by on glib answers concerning their responsibilities to the rest of their species. When Roher asks Altman why anyone should trust him to guide the rapid acceleration of AI, given its extreme ramifications, Altman replies: “You shouldn’t.” The line of interrogation ends there.The AI Doc is framed by Roher’s anxiety over the impending arrival of his son and first child with his wife, filmmaker Caroline Lindy. He wonders what kind of a world his boy will inherit and whether the rise of artificial intelligence will preclude the experiences that develop us into self-sufficient adults. In Roher’s first several interviews, all his worst fears seem to be confirmed. Tristan Harris, cofounder of the nonprofit Center for Humane Technology, delivers one of the worst gut punches: “I know people who work on AI risk who don’t expect their children to make it to high school,” he says, invoking a scenario in which the technology demolishes the very infrastructure of traditional education.Despite the sense of mounting panic, Roher and codirector Charlie Tyrell present an admirably robust crash course in AI and the biggest questions it poses, helped along by Roher’s insistence on defining terms in plain language rather than startup buzzwords. Visually, the film is charmingly human, featuring colorful drawings and paintings by Roher, while whimsical stop-motion sequences hint at the influence of producer Daniel Kwan, the Oscar-winning codirector of Everything Everywhere All at Once. The vibrant creativity amid portents of doom provides some of the hope that Roher is desperately seeking.Yet later interviews with Silicon Valley techno-optimists promising AI that conquers diseases and climate change—followed by the CEOs striking their usual balance between hype and the tones of sober caution—pass without much interrogation of grandiose claims. There is barely a moment spent considering why or how we should expect the current crop of fallible large language models to give rise to the mythical “artificial general intelligence” (AGI) that would outstrip human cognition. There are, at best, euphemistic acknowledgements (from venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, for example) that any benefits will come along with unspecified harms.Even when the top players say that the near-term implications of AI are as significant as the advent of nuclear armament, they are defaulting to a familiar playbook, presenting their products as singularly consequential one way or another—hinting that only they can be trusted to advance them.The documentary accurately conveys how the unregulated AI gold rush is driven by the perverse incentives of a global market and a struggle for domination. It observes how this mania concentrates wealth and power in the smallest possible circle of elites. Strange, then, that The AI Doc eventually carves out a gotta-hear-both-sides position in which the general public, not the executives under the microscope, are tasked with steering the AI revolution in the right direction. It’s stranger still considering that Roher has produced lacerating critiques of the AI economy on the press circuit, blasting it as a “Ponzi scheme.”As he prepares to be a father, Roher has a touching conversation with his own dad, who advises him that while there are historical forces he can’t control, he’ll be a great parent no matter what—and that every generation has dealt with the existential distress of bringing life into an era of instability.Nevertheless, Roher and Tyrell call viewers to action, concluding the film by suggesting that ordinary citizens can pressure governments and corporations to ensure that AI evolves along the safest, narrowest path toward prosperity for all. The sequence is set to footage of other grand projects, including the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, as though this piece of architecture were shaped by collective opinion.After a screening of The AI Doc at Los Angeles’ Academy Museum on Monday, Tyrell, Kwan, Harris, and producer Ted Tremper held a brief Q&A, with each reinforcing the idea that the feature was a productive step toward raising awareness of AI as a critical issue. “We're excited to continue this conversation,” Kwan said at one point. “This is just the beginning, and I know that this movie will never be able to encompass everything.” But he foresaw that the film would encourage audiences to “link arms with us and step confidently into the darkness as we try to figure out what we do together.”The documentary’s vision of positive change, though, is hazy, perhaps clouded by both the necessity of a rosy ending for Roher’s expanded family and the delicate suspension of skepticism whenever a billionaire enters the frame.In this narrative, these executives are apparently just along for the ride like anybody else, their status a mere accident of fate—which sets them up for a modest shrug whenever they admit they don’t totally understand what goes on inside the AI models they have already deployed at scale. As long as we’re so preoccupied with whether these programs may soon possess consciousness or intent, we might want to treat these people as though they, at least, have agency.CommentsBack to topTriangleThe War MachineThe Ghosts of Al-Shifa HospitalAnduril Wants to Own the Future of War Tech. Mishaps, Delays, and Challenges AboundHow American Camouflage Conquered the World‘Get Down! Get Down! They’re Gonna See Us!’: Six Months of Hiding From ICEMeet the Gods of AI WarfareWhen Satellite Data Becomes a WeaponMiles Klee is a senior writer at WIRED covering digital culture in all its forms. He was previously a reporter at Rolling Stone and Mel magazine. He is the author of a novel, Ivyland, and a story collection, True False, as well as Double Black Diamond, a fiction collection cowritten ... 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We’ve got a solution for every situation.Scott GilbertsonOne Way or Another, Most of Our Electricity Comes From Solar PowerThat’s good news, since the forecast is sunshine for the next 5 billion years.Rhett AllainThe Latest AI Documentary Asks: Just How Scared Should We Be?The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist seeks the middle ground on a polarizing technology—and ends up letting tech execs like Sam Altman off the hook.Miles KleeEvery iPhone Backup Option You Need to Know AboutSave your memories now, because if your iPhone gets stolen or lost, your photos and other precious files could be gone forever.Simon HillWIRED is obsessed with what comes next. Through rigorous investigations and game-changing reporting, we tell stories that don’t just reflect the moment—they help create it. 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The documentary, “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist,” directed by Adam Bhala Lough, presents a nuanced approach to the anxieties surrounding the rapid development of artificial intelligence, ultimately arguing for a tempered perspective rather than outright apocalyptic fear. The film’s central premise revolves around filmmaker Daniel Roher’s personal concerns about his future child’s world, fueled by anxieties expressed by experts like Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology, highlighting potential disruptions to education and societal structures due to widespread AI implementation. However, the film’s access to key figures—Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Demis Hassabis—yields surprisingly cautious and somewhat evasive responses, largely reiterating familiar arguments about AI’s potential while avoiding critical scrutiny of its trajectory.

Roher’s exploration is initially steeped in a palpable sense of dread, mirroring the perspectives of those he interviews who paint starkly pessimistic scenarios concerning the potential for AGI to fundamentally alter human experience and societal norms. Yet, the film actively resists becoming solely a cautionary tale, striving instead toward a more comprehensive understanding of the technology through detailed explanations and visualizations, incorporating Roher’s own artistic contributions—charmingly human drawings and whimsical stop-motion sequences—to combat the perceived “startup buzzword” overload often associated with the field. This deliberate effort to demystify AI terminology and present a more accessible narrative proves to be a key element of the film’s successful middle ground.

Despite the high-level interviews, the film reveals a disappointing lack of critical engagement with the claims made by the tech elite. The conversations largely center around the inevitable, yet unverified, arrival of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and the potential benefits tied to its development, without delving deeply into the inherent risks associated with concentrating such power and resources in the hands of a select few. The film identifies the perverse incentives driving the AI gold rush—global market competition and the pursuit of dominance—and accurately observes the resulting concentration of wealth and power.

Ultimately, “The AI Doc” shifts its focus to the role of the public in shaping AI’s development, proposing that ordinary citizens, not just the CEOs of leading tech companies, bear the responsibility for steering the technology toward a more beneficial future. This framing echoes Roher's own lineage of highlighting the influence of public opinion through initiatives like his 2022 documentary on Alexei Navalny, suggesting a parallel between guiding a political movement and guiding the evolution of artificial intelligence. The cinematic imagery of projects such as the Golden Gate Bridge is used to illustrate this point, signifying the importance of shared influence.

However, the film doesn’t entirely escape the inherent skepticism surrounding figures like Sam Altman, often portraying them as caught in a grand, largely incomprehensible experiment rather than possessing genuine agency or understanding. The conclusion, while offering a cautious optimism, ultimately feels somewhat reliant on a graceful suspension of disbelief, shaped by Roher’s personal narrative of embracing the uncertainties of fatherhood and drawing parallels with historical generational anxieties. The film’s final sequence, presented with a hopeful outlook on his son’s future, subtly leans into a predetermined positive outcome, tempering the complexity of the issue at hand.