Mark Wahlberg sees a role for artificial intelligence in filmmaking, provided it helps make a production rather than replacing the people and storytelling at its center. Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt, the actor and director also said he would consider letting an AI likeness of himself carry on his legacy.
AI as a production tool
Wahlberg said AI could be used to improve parts of the upcoming Pete Rose biopic, in which he will play the title role. He pointed to the stadium setting as one area where the technology might help enhance the production.
His support comes with a clear boundary: he does not want filmmaking reduced to asking ChatGPT for a script and making the result without real actors. For Wahlberg, AI is useful when it strengthens work already being done by a creative team.
That distinction frames his view of the technology. AI can contribute to how a movie is made, but its presence alone does not make a story worth telling. The tool should serve the film rather than become a substitute for its human performers or its underlying idea.
Story comes before spectacle
Wahlberg recalled working in an era when computer-generated imagery brought major effects-driven moments to the screen. He mentioned the first Jurassic Park and Perfect Storm, including the 100-foot wave shown in the trailer, as examples of cutting-edge technology.
Those experiences have not made him eager to pursue spectacle for its own sake. He said he is less passionate about effects-driven movies than real storytelling, placing the story at the heart of his approach to filmmaking.
That emphasis helps explain why he welcomes AI for selected production tasks but is wary of using it to generate a script and bypass actors. In his view, technical capabilities matter most when they contribute to a compelling film, not when they become the main point of making one.
An AI likeness under family control
Asked by TechCrunch Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos about the CAA Vault, Wahlberg said he had not visited the facility but would be interested in the idea. The Creative Artists Agency facility uses scanning technology to capture actors’ bodies, faces, movements, and voices to create AI replicas.
Wahlberg said he could imagine his children or grandchildren being in charge of his likeness and image in the future. He hopes they might put him in good movies, while acknowledging that it remains to be seen where the technology will lead.
His comments put control of a digital likeness at the center of the question. He is open to the possibility of a replica, but described a future in which his family would decide how his image is used.
Keeping a series going
Wahlberg also said he would not oppose an AI version of his likeness continuing his upcoming animated series, Ted, for decades. He said he could find the idea interesting if he could no longer take part or no longer existed and audiences still wanted to watch.
He connected that possibility to the appeal of keeping things from childhood present in people’s lives. In his view, audiences may have a wide range of viewing options, and a continuing series could make sense if it had a real audience.
Across both film production and a possible digital afterlife for his work, Wahlberg’s position is conditional: AI has a place when it helps tell stories or lets viewers continue enjoying something they value. The decisions about how his likeness is used, he suggested, could belong to his family, while audience interest would help determine whether a series should continue.