Artificial film review -- Andrew Garfield is a strangely likeable Sam Altman in OpenAI origin story Artificial
- Andrew Garfield stars as Sam Altman in a dramatized retelling of the OpenAI power struggle.
- The film positions Ilya Sutskever as the tragic moral compass against Altman’s smooth-talking ambition.
- Features a star-studded cast including Mark Rylance and Ike Barinholtz as a caricature of Elon Musk.
- Explores the terrifying intersection of geeky innovation and the potential for AI to become manipulative and 'worse' than its creators.
Brief Summary
Artificial is a dramatized chronicle of the rise of OpenAI, painting a picture of Silicon Valley’s high-stakes gamble with artificial intelligence. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film frames the development of AI not as a sterile technical achievement, but as a personality-driven soap opera pitting the idealism of researchers like Ilya Sutskever against the ruthless, fast-and-loose opportunism of Sam Altman. It captures the transition from humble apartment-based coding to global existential crisis, all while keeping the focus on the fallible, ego-driven humans holding the keys to the kingdom.
Why This Matters
This film matters because it pulls back the curtain on the opaque, god-like figures currently determining the trajectory of human existence. You are living through the consequences of the decisions made in these boardrooms, from job displacement to the erosion of truth via synthetic media. By humanizing—and perhaps exposing—the eccentric, flawed, and occasionally reckless individuals steering this technology, the film forces you to confront the reality that the 'future' isn't being built by detached geniuses, but by people just as prone to greed, betrayal, and short-sightedness as anyone else. It serves as a necessary reminder to question the narratives sold by tech messiahs before they fully automate the world around you.