AI documentary puts CEOs in the hot seat, then goes easy on them

The new documentary "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" tries to find a balanced view of one of the hottest tech debates of our time. Wired has published a review that praises the filmmakers' intentions but faults the result: the heads of the biggest AI companies, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, leave the screen with their positions barely challenged.

The title itself sets the tone. An "apocaloptimist" is someone who acknowledges the risks but stays optimistic. The filmmakers wanted to stake out the middle ground between alarmism and unchecked hype. It's a reasonable idea: most people really do sit somewhere in the middle, neither Luddites nor tech evangelists. The question is whether you can make an honest documentary from that position, or whether the "middle" inevitably becomes a concession to those with more power and resources.

The film is built around interviews with key industry figures. Critics note that the filmmakers secured rare access to these people and then used it far too cautiously. Hard questions about real-world consequences, including job losses, concentration of power, and system safety, do come up, but they never get the pressure they deserve. That gap stands out given the stakes: AI companies have raised hundreds of billions of dollars in investment, their models are built into the workflows of millions of people, and regulators around the world are scrambling to write rules, often too late.

Wired's review lays out several specific complaints. First, there is no real-time fact-checking: when a speaker makes a claim, the filmmakers neither challenge it nor offer counterarguments. Second, the film pays too little attention to people already harmed by AI, such as creative workers, journalists, and translators. Third, it favors polished visuals over uncomfortable details. The result feels like a carefully staged tour of the industry rather than an independent journalistic investigation.

Still, the critics don't call "The AI Doc" a failure. For viewers just starting to get their bearings on the topic, the film can be a useful starting point: it explains the basic concepts, introduces the key players, and sketches out the main lines of the debate. The problem lies elsewhere: public conversation about AI is too valuable to spend on material that offers comfort where discomfort is needed.

Apocaloptimism is a perfectly viable personal philosophy. But documentary journalism isn't supposed to seek peace of mind. Its job is to ask uncomfortable questions of those who have the power and money to shape the future. Until that happens, any film about AI risks becoming part of the PR machine it sets out to analyze.