Oscar-winning director of Navalny, Daniel Roher, like many others, was sceptical about AI and its impact. However, that scepticism turned into fear when he and his wife were about to welcome their child. He began questioning whether it was the right time to bring a child into a world that could be facing an AI revolution. At the same time, he wondered whether humanity was heading toward a utopian future. 

This tension lies at the heart of his new documentary, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist. It offers both exploration of the issue and a warning.

Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell have worked together on The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist. For the documentary, they interviewed more than 40 AI experts, including voices that speak of both the promises and the risks of the technology. And based on their research, the duo explained that AI is already here, affecting lives.

“The biggest realization was that there probably isn’t an ‘off switch.’ AI isn’t a tool we can just decide to reject; it’s already here. And it’s going to keep integrating into our lives in ways both visible and invisible,” Tyrell said.

As the directors explained, once people acknowledge the reality of AI, the next step would be finding out how to deal with it. Tyrell added that AI cannot be categorized as good or bad, and the sooner the world accepts its presence, the sooner it can begin shaping the technology in ways that benefit humanity. What is interesting is the directors’ continued stress that, whether people agree or not, AI is already impacting lives. 

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This is also perhaps what led them to coin the term “apocaloptimist” with meaning.

After their research, Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell argued that the world needs more than just optimists or pessimists. It needs 'apocaloptimists,' which is a made-up word but holds an important meaning. 'Apocaloptimists' are people who acknowledge both the good and the risks of AI and explore the entire concept to seek a balance that makes the future survivable. 

“An apocaloptimist looks at the full range of what’s possible — all the promise and all the peril — and chooses to coordinate with others to build a future worth living in,” the directors said. 

The term serves as both hope and a reality check for people. And this idea is reflected in The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, which would soon be available for streaming. The documentary moves from the future as purely apocalyptic or purely utopian to find a balance that works for everyone.

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