AI Handles Routine, Humans Stay in Charge: What Filmmaking Teaches Knowledge Work
In short
AI takes over the expensive, repetitive routine work — in filmmaking as in the office. What remains is human judgment: taste, experience, and knowing when to stop. This division of labour determines whether Swiss SMEs benefit from AI agents or merely shift costs.
The expensive routine disappears, judgment remains
Ben Affleck is not only an Oscar-winning filmmaker but, since 2022, also an entrepreneur: through his company InterPositive, acquired by Netflix in March 2026, he engaged early with the use of AI in film production. In 2024, the company filed a patent aimed at drastically reducing the cost of visual effects. What does that have to do with your business? More than you might think.
50%
estimated cost reduction for visual effects (VFX) through AI, according to Affleck's InterPositive patent filing, 2024
I wouldn't like to be in the visual effects business, they're in trouble because what cost a lot of money is now going to cost a lot less, and it's going to hammer that space.
What Hollywood and the Swiss market have in common
In the past, a single elaborate rendering required hundreds, sometimes a thousand, specialists. Today, AI handles much of this structured, repetitive work — and cuts costs long considered unavoidable. The same logic applies to knowledge work in Swiss companies: meeting minutes, data preparation, drafts, translations — all clearly structured tasks that are expensive in human time.
The function of having two actors or three or four actors in a room and the taste to discern and construct, that is something that currently entirely eludes AI's capability.
The dividing line: routine versus judgment
Affleck draws a clear line that applies to any knowledge work: AI can execute, but it cannot decide when something is good enough. It has no taste, no client relationship, and no sense of when to stop. According to Affleck, these abilities take decades to mature — which is precisely why they remain the true value of your organisation.
- AI domain: structuring minutes, preparing data, drafting first versions, routine translation, recurring analysis
- Human domain: strategic decisions, client relationships, quality judgment, ethical weighing, knowing when a result is truly finished
AI is a leadership issue, not an IT project
AI is a management issue. Bad structures don't improve because of AI.
This observation matches Affleck's experience closely: technology alone solves nothing if leadership fails to define where automation makes sense and where human judgment makes the difference. As explored in how mid-sized companies anchor AI as a leadership issue and turn it into real competitive advantage, this clarity is often what separates success from stagnation.
The first step
Before introducing AI agents, an honest inventory is worthwhile: which tasks in your team are structured, repetitive and costly — and which genuinely require experience, taste and accountability? That distinction is the real lever.
The next step for Swiss companies
The question isn't how many roles AI replaces, but how you use the freed-up time for what only humans can do. Companies that get this shift right often achieve productivity gains that go far beyond simple efficiency — provided the division of labour between human and machine is clearly defined, not left to chance.
We need to preserve what makes storytelling human, which is judgment. The kind that takes decades to build, experience to hone and that only people can have.
Whether in Hollywood or the Swiss market: the companies acting now aren't simply shifting costs — they're giving their best people back the time to do exactly what AI cannot: judge, decide, and build relationships.
Frequently asked questions
- Does AI replace creative and strategic work in a company?
- No. AI mainly takes over structured, repetitive tasks such as data preparation, meeting minutes, or first drafts. Strategic decisions, client relationships, and quality judgment remain human tasks, as Ben Affleck's experience in film production also shows.
- What does Ben Affleck's statement about AI have to do with Swiss SMEs?
- Affleck describes how AI automates the costly, repetitive parts of film production, such as visual effects, while taste and judgment remain human. The same division of labour applies to knowledge work: AI agents take over routine, humans take over strategy and decision-making.
- How much does AI reduce visual effects costs according to Affleck?
- The patent filed in 2024 by Affleck's company InterPositive targets a cost reduction of around 50 percent for visual effects.
- Where should Swiss companies start with AI agents?
- The most sensible starting point is clearly structured, recurring tasks such as meeting minutes, data preparation, or drafts — areas where effort is high and decision-making scope is low.
- Is introducing AI more of an IT topic or a leadership responsibility?
- It's a leadership responsibility. As the Swiss AI Podcast emphasises, bad structures don't improve because of AI — the responsibility for using automation sensibly lies with management.
Sources
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