Andrew Garfield Quit ChatGPT After Playing Sam Altman in Artificial

Andrew Garfield stopped using ChatGPT after playing OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman in Luca Guadagnino's new film Artificial.

Garfield told Variety at the film's New York Film Festival premiere that the role changed his own behaviour. He quit. Research for the part left him uneasy about the technology.

He said he had previously used ChatGPT as "a kind of fancy Google" for work as an actor. Playing Altman ended that. Garfield said he "got a bit scared" and felt "a little mistrusting" of artificial intelligence.

He went further. He said the people urging the public to use AI tools do not fully understand what the systems can do themselves. That, he said, was irresponsible.

Artificial tells the story of the organisation behind ChatGPT. It centres on OpenAI's early history and Altman's brief removal in 2023, with the board reinstating him five days later, according to Variety. Garfield plays Altman. Guadagnino directs.

Garfield has described a shift in how he saw Altman. He said Altman had seemed "F—ing Great" before filming began, in comments reported by Variety. Then came the research. "And Then You Learn More About a Person," he said.

He has also stressed distance. "I don't know this person, to be clear," he said of Altman when the trailer was released, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. In August, he had used stronger language about OpenAI while discussing the role.

The trailer gives a taste of that boardroom drama. It shows Garfield as Altman telling colleagues: "We're going to call it ChatGPT."

The film itself has had a busy business history. Amazon MGM Studios dropped the project, as reported by Variety. Neon then closed a deal to acquire the nearly completed US$40 million film about OpenAI, as reported by Variety.

What makes this stand out is the reversal. An actor researched a tech leader by using his product, then put the product aside.