The AI Doc producer Daniel Kwan on the future and threat of artificial intelligence

The time to be on the fence about artificial intelligence is over. That's according to Daniel Kwan, co-writer/co-director of Everything Everywhere All at Once, founding member of the Creators Coalition on AI, and producer of the upcoming documentary The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist.

Every day, decisions are being made by the biggest CEOs in the AI space. And it can feel like the everyday folk don't have a say. But that's a common misconception that Kwan and The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist filmmakers, including co-director Charlie Tyrell and producer Ted Tremper, aim to overturn with this Focus Features documentary. While at SXSW, The AI Doc team came by our Say More studio to dig into the film's information and how it's structured to communicate a lot in an actually accessible way.

In my review out of SXSW, I cheered, "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist compiles a mountain of big ideas, opposing theories, and talking head interviews. But it does so within a personal framing that keeps this discussion deeply human."

Documentarian Daniel Roher interviewed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO and co-founder Demis Hassabis, and Anthropic CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei, along with scads of experts and engineers, to explore both sides of the AI debate. But the human thread of the film is about how his fears about becoming a first-time parent inform how he's responding emotionally and psychologically to all he learns.

For more on The AI Doc, look for Mashable's recording of The AI Panel: Or What Being an Apocaloptimist Looks Like, which featured Kwan, Tremper, and co-producer Diane Becker, along with me, Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko, as moderator.

And for your chance to see The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist early and at no charge, check out Mashable's advanced screenings in L.A. and New York.

The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist opens in theaters on March 27. Look for more Mashable coverage out of SXSW.