SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- At a packed, three-day tech conference during which attendees heard from high-level execs and founders behind blue chip tech companies like Anthropic, Amazon and Nvidia, it was a Hollywood A-lister who drew the biggest crowd. Actor Mark Wahlberg closed out this year's TechCrunch Disrupt, speaking to a packed hall at San Francisco’s Moscone Center on Thursday.
The actor, rapper, director and multi-faceted entertainer is also a prolific entrepreneur who has launched, among other things, a prayer app, a clothing line and a gym. Joined onstage by his business partner Bruce Lee and a TechCrunch moderator, a buffed looking Wahlberg spoke to the capacity crowd about his feelings regarding the use of AI in film, particularly in the upcoming Pete Rose biopic in which he's been cast in the title role.
"It’s a very extensive movie. It’s not necessarily international four quadrant movie. We’re talking about utilizing that to enhance the stadium setting and things of that nature," Wahlberg told the audience. "So yeah, I think if used the right way… I don’t think you should just put an idea into ChatGPT and it spits out a script and you should go make that and not use real actors."
"But if you can use it to enhance what you’re doing, then I’m all for that," he added.
Wahlberg went on to say that while he was not opposed to technology's use in films, for him storytelling remained central.
"I’ve done big effects-driven movies, I was in that kind of sweet spot with like the first 'Jurassic Park' movie was made or when ‘Perfect Storm’ came out and you had that wave, a 100-foot wave, that was in the trailer. Those are cutting edge moments in technology with computer generated images," he said. "Now, I think, it’s hard to do that, so I’m not so passionate about effects driven movies per se as opposed to real storytelling."
"People have been able to do some amazing things with technology and I think that’s wonderful, it really just depends on your own specific tastes," he added.
The actor, who has been twice nominated for an Academy Awards said his favorite films were character-driven as opposed to relying on special effects.
"I’m just kind of I grew up watching Jimmy Cagney, and all these 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s movies with my dad. When I was a kid, I was watching all these movies that weren’t age appropriate for me. But my dad was a truck driver and a teamster, and he would take me to the movies, and I was the youngest of nine kids and that was how I got spend quality one on one time with him," he reflected. "So I’m drawn toward those kind of character-driven movies, the kind of blue-collar guy, anti-hero I like character driven movies more based on reality."
The TechCrunch moderator went on to ask Wahlberg if he'd been to the CAA "Vault," a building run by the top talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, where actors can have their likenesses scanned for AI and potentially "live forever" on the screen.
"I have not," he replied. "I haven’t been invited; that would be interesting to see."
"I think in the future if that’s the way things go, that would be cool," he continued. "If my children and grandchildren could be in charge of my likeness and my image you know... as long as they put me into good movies."
