Andrew Garfield says playing Sam Altman in 'Artificial' made him question AI’s impact on humanity

Andrew Garfield is opening up about taking on the role of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming film Artificial, revealing that the project left him deeply conflicted about the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

Speaking about the film, Garfield said he became increasingly concerned about the consequences of AI while portraying Altman, particularly as the story explores the internal conflict surrounding OpenAI and its leadership. The actor described the technology as potentially damaging to humanity’s sense of creativity, connection and meaning.

Garfield’s comments are particularly striking because Artificial does not approach the subject of AI as a straightforward technology story. The film centres on the turbulent period surrounding OpenAI’s 2023 leadership crisis, when Altman was temporarily removed as CEO before returning to the company days later.

Garfield plays Altman, while Oppenheimer star Cooper Koch portrays OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever. The cast also includes Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov, Steve Carell and Andrew Scott.

For Garfield, portraying Altman required him to consider the complicated relationship between technological progress and the people building it. Rather than simply portraying the OpenAI CEO as a villain or hero, the actor said he was interested in the contradictions surrounding someone developing a technology that could fundamentally change society.

The actor has previously spoken about the dangers of allowing technology to move faster than humanity's ability to understand its consequences. His concerns about AI became even more pronounced while working on Artificial, as the film gave him an opportunity to examine the people at the centre of the industry's rapid expansion.

Garfield's comments come as Hollywood continues to grapple with the impact of generative AI. Actors, writers and filmmakers have raised concerns about their likenesses and creative work being replicated or used without permission, while studios and technology companies continue to explore ways AI could be incorporated into filmmaking and entertainment.

The film's subject also makes Garfield's casting particularly intriguing. Altman has become one of the most recognisable figures in the technology industry, with OpenAI's ChatGPT helping make generative AI a mainstream phenomenon.

Guadagnino, the filmmaker behind Call Me by Your Name, Suspiria and Queer, is approaching the story as a dramatic account of the people caught inside one of the most consequential moments in the technology industry's recent history.

For Garfield, however, the experience appears to have gone beyond simply researching a character. Playing Altman forced him to confront questions about whether technological advancement is necessarily synonymous with human progress.

Artificial is therefore shaping up as both a behind-the-scenes drama about OpenAI and a broader examination of what happens when technology develops at a pace that society may not be prepared to handle.