I like HBO because it still feels like one of the few places willing to spend serious money making television worth talking about. I have plenty of complaints about House of the Dragon, especially its pacing, but when one of those massive battles hits, and an enormous dragon screams out of the clouds, I can see where the budget went. Ben Affleck, however, has an idea about how we might get that spectacle faster. And it has me worried.
A clip of the Argo filmmaker discussing artificial intelligence, see below, has resurfaced in a post from Yashar Ali on X. The footage actually comes from a 2024 CNBC Delivering Alpha event, where Affleck was asked whether AI might threaten filmmaking. His answer was mostly optimistic about human creativity, but his example involving House of the Dragon and Succession has stuck with me for a much less cheerful reason:
Ben Affleck says the day will come when someone can order up an episode of Succession with a plot they have in mind.
He says that could create an extra revenue stream to replace lost DVD revenue.
Affleck says AI isn’t going to end the film and TV business, but certain parts of the industry will be dramatically affected:
“I wouldn’t like to be in the visual effects business. They’re in trouble because what costs a lot of money is now gonna cost a lot less….And maybe it shouldn’t take a thousand people to render something.”
But he says the cost savings will mean more television programming, not less:
“You might be able to get two seasons of House of the Dragon in a year instead of one.”October 17, 2026
Affleck doesn’t think AI overlords will take over all of cinema anytime soon. However, he suggests generative AI could take some of the expensive, time-consuming work out of effects-heavy TV. As he put it:
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You might be able to get two seasons of House of the Dragon in a year instead of one.
That probably sounds fantastic to anyone who spent two years waiting for HotD to return on the 2026 TV schedule. Showrunner Ryan Condal has explained that filming alone can take roughly a year, followed by another seven months of making the dragons. I certainly wouldn’t complain about shorter gaps between seasons if the resulting episodes were just as good.
Affleck then went further, imagining a day when someone could pay around $30 to request a custom Succession episode. Want Kendall Roy to win the company and run away with Stewy? Considering what actually happened in Succession‘s series finale, I can see why some viewers might be tempted to request a different ending. The Animals filmmaker acknowledged that the result might look awkward and argued that such uses should involve negotiated rights.
The Oscar winner also stressed that he did not expect AI to replace actual filmmakers. His broader argument was that cheaper production could mean more shows for viewers, which is a fair hope. Yet I’m less convinced studios will treat every dollar saved as permission to make better television.
HBO has earned its reputation with some of the most talked-about TV shows ever made, including The Sopranos, The Wire, Succession and Game of Thrones. Even when House of the Dragon frustrates me, the network still backs ambitious productions and lets talented people make difficult creative decisions. However, that doesn’t mean the established auteurs won’t still experiment with the tech.
High-profile filmmakers are already creating with the technology. Earlier this year, Darren Aronofsky’s AI-generated American Revolution series raised similar concerns about the future of creative work. I mean, I personally wasn’t a big fan of this piece of American history, considering it gave uncanny valley vibes. But, still, if Aronofsky is willing to throw his name behind AI, who’s next?
Now, imagine an executive looking at AI-generated effects, shorter schedules and personalized episodes and deciding that viewers will accept a cheaper version of all that. The risk is that the technology becomes an excuse to squeeze budgets and crews while filling your HBO Max subscription with endless recognizable IP.
It’s also worth remembering that House of the Dragon isn’t delayed solely because someone needs to render scales on Vhagar. Actors have schedules. Scripts need revisions. Sets, costumes and whole performances have to come together. With that in mind, speeding up one part of the process does not magically solve everything else.
I understand why Ben Affleck sees opportunity here. I can even see AI tools helping artists with specific tasks. But the idea of ordering a disposable, computer-generated Succession episode leaves me cold. I want writers who know those characters deciding what happens to Kendall Roy, even when they make choices that drive me nuts.
HBO still sets a high bar for television. I’d rather wait for another great season than help teach the industry how far that bar can be lowered.
