Preview: The AI Doc — A Father-to-Be Confronts the Age of Artificial Intelligence
"The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" is a 2026 documentary that frames the global debate over artificial intelligence through an intimate, personal lens. Directed by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell and produced by the team behind "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and "Navalny", the film follows Roher as he prepares for fatherhood while grappling with the rapid rise of AI and what it could mean for his child’s future.
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026 before a wide theatrical release in March, the 1 hour 44 minute feature blends reportage, interviews and first-person narration to explore both the promise and peril of the technology. Roher sits down with leading figures in the field—including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis—to ask the questions many new parents and concerned citizens are wrestling with: How fast is AI advancing, who controls it, and what happens if we get it wrong?
The title’s coined term “apocaloptimist” captures the film’s central tension: a mixture of dread about existential risk and cautious hope that humanity can steer AI toward beneficial outcomes. Rather than delivering a definitive verdict, the documentary maps out competing viewpoints—from accelerationists who see unstoppable progress to safety advocates calling for guardrails—while grounding the conversation in Roher’s own anxiety as he imagines the world his child will inherit.
Visually, the film leans into a hand-made aesthetic that contrasts with its high-tech subject matter, using personal footage, animation and on-the-ground reporting to keep the stakes human-scale. By the final act, the question shifts from “Is AI dangerous?” to “What can ordinary people do about it?”—pointing viewers to resources and ways to engage with policy, research and public discourse.
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