Andrew Garfield Says Playing Sam Altman in ‘Artificial’ Made Him Quit ChatGPT

Andrew Garfield has played plenty of intense characters over the years, but his latest role may have changed one of his everyday habits. The actor says that after playing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in the upcoming movie Artificial, he stopped using ChatGPT.

Garfield shared the surprising detail during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he talked about the movie and what it was like to spend so much time studying one of the biggest names in the technology world. Artificial follows the dramatic events at OpenAI in November 2023, when Altman was suddenly removed from his position before returning just days later.

For Garfield, the role was not just another acting job. He was playing a real person involved in a story that had already made headlines around the world. While Garfield has never met Altman in person, he spent months preparing to play him and learning about the events surrounding OpenAI.

That experience apparently made him look at technology in a different way. During the Kimmel interview, Garfield explained that he had a similar reaction years ago while working on The Social Network. In that film, he played Eduardo Saverin, one of Facebook’s co-founders. After making the movie, Garfield said he stopped using Facebook.

He told TheWrap that the same thing happened this time with ChatGPT. “I got off my ChatGPT immediately,” Garfield said, describing what happened after he finished Artificial.

The actor did not present his decision as a major campaign against artificial intelligence. Instead, he seemed more unsure about where the technology is heading. When Jimmy Kimmel asked whether playing Altman made him more worried about AI, Garfield responded with some humor before admitting that he does not really know what the future will look like.

Garfield’s concern appears to come from how quickly AI is changing everyday life. He pointed out that even people working in the technology industry openly talk about how much is still unknown. Questions about jobs, the economy, and the effect of AI on society remain difficult to answer, and Garfield seemed uncomfortable with the idea that everyone is simply waiting to see what happens.

He also joked about the way the tech world talks about those changes, suggesting that people are being told everything will work out even though nobody can fully explain what is coming next. His comments were light at times, but there was a clear feeling of uncertainty behind them.

Artificial is only one of two very different projects Garfield has been promoting. He also stars in The Uprising, a Paul Greengrass movie set in medieval England. Garfield plays the leader of a rebellion against King Richard II during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.

The two roles could hardly be more different. Garfield went from playing one of the most powerful people in modern technology to portraying someone with very little power during one of England’s major uprisings. He said the contrast between the projects was fascinating, especially because he filmed Artificial before The Uprising even though the medieval drama is being released first.

Artificial has already attracted plenty of attention outside of Garfield’s performance. The movie was reportedly dropped by Amazon MGM Studios in June, shortly after Amazon announced a major partnership with OpenAI. The project has continued to draw interest because of its subject matter and the real events behind the story.

Garfield’s comments also give the movie an interesting extra layer. He went into the role to portray a major figure in the AI world, but the experience apparently made him less interested in using one of the most well-known AI tools himself.

Whether Garfield eventually returns to ChatGPT or sticks with his decision remains to be seen. For now, though, the actor seems to have taken away one very personal lesson from playing Sam Altman: sometimes spending too much time thinking about technology can make you want to step away from it.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments.