Benedict Cumberbatch says he feels "pretty depressed" about AI in the film industry and thinks we're "vanilla-fying" the "thing that makes us human"

Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

More of Hollywood’s finest are speaking up against the use of AI in the industry. Guillermo del Toro has assured that he’d rather die than use it, and now Benedict Cumberbatch has had a few words to say on the matter. During a Reddit AMA, the Doctor Strange star expressed his concerns about the tool that is becoming so popular for some and loathed by others. He acknowledged that everything has its place, which is a fair assessment, from the man who played the father of artificial intelligence, Alan Turing, in The Imitation Game. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean he’s happy about how it’s going at the moment.

When asked how he felt about this new tool being adopted here, there, and anywhere, Cumberbatch confessed that it’s made him feel “Pretty depressed, to be honest.” The MCU star added, “I feel we are in danger of vanilla-fying and perfecting and asphalting over the thing that makes us human, which are our fallibility, our mess, and our inaccuracy, all of which creates the tension, conflict, and necessary friction for original creative thinking to occur. Our need for immediate results and our appetites are being overrun by the plentitude and, of course, the need for immediate gratification, which are all dangerous I feel for the human creative mindset.”

At the same time, Cumberbatch acknowledged that there might be a place for artificial intelligence. “I understand these tools can be used while maintaining the analog mess of the biochemistry wielding them and still have a great impact that isn't to the detriment of authenticity. I also feel like Nick Cave, who if you haven't read his letter he articulates it so perfectly, that our limitations are what make us human and stories are how we understand our humanity. The blank page, the challenge of slow thinking, failing, and thinking better, and the difficulties of the grind of our creative act are what make it so, so rewarding.”