--- title: "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist" critics_score: 57 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (2026): what the critics said Critics' score 57 from 9 reviews: 5 positive, 1 mixed, 3 negative. ## IndieWire — Christian Zilko Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2026. Festival review. The review highlights Roher's good-faith effort to grapple with nuance on AI's vast implications rather than simplifying the debate. It positions the film as an admirable, timely attempt to engage seriously with the topic despite its challenges. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist-review-1235175692/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2026. Festival review. The review presents the documentary as a personal exploration of AI anxieties through interviews with experts across doomer, optimist and critical perspectives. It highlights the film's balanced 'apocaloptimist' stance and call for international regulation and transparency. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/27/sundance-ai-documentary-daniel-roher) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Caryn James Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2026. Festival review. The critic praises the film's personal, first-person structure with Roher as surrogate and its dynamic, kaleidoscopic visuals that keep the talking-heads format lively and engaging. She notes the conclusion feels somewhat willful, driven more by the director's desire for hope than by the evidence presented. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist-review-1236485368/) ## The New York Times — Alissa Wilkinson Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 26 March 2026. The critic finds the film tries to cover too much, ending up more confusing than clarifying, though parts are fascinating, particularly the interviews with AI CEOs. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/movies/the-ai-doc-movie-anthropic-openai-claude-chatgpt.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Robert Abele Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 27 March 2026. The review criticizes the film as a well-intentioned but aggravating soup of information that lacks nuance and treats viewers like children with its simplistic approach and flashy style. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-03-27/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-apocaloptimist-review-documentary-daniel-roher) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2026. Festival review. The critic finds the documentary toothless and lacking real perspective or inquisitiveness, with inconclusive and unpersuasive results from its interviews with AI experts. Roher's personal framing as an expectant father fails to deliver meaningful balance between gloom and hope. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist-review-navalny-helmer-daniel-roher-co-directs-toothless-ai-study/5213117.article) ## The Playlist — Rodrigo Perez Rating A. 2 April 2026. The critic views the film as a sobering yet engrossing overview of AI's promise and peril, personalized through the director's anxiety as a soon-to-be father. It singles out the strong access to key figures and the structural tension around incentives and the gap between intelligence and wisdom for praise, while noting it stops short of fully confronting human nature's limitations. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist-review-a-sobering-documentary-about-ais-promise-peril-potential-human-failure-20260402/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 25 March 2026. Festival review. The critic describes the documentary as a surprisingly even-handed and accessible feature that contrasts optimistic and nihilistic views of AI. It highlights the film's effort to include voices from both sides of the debate to foster clarity and action rather than polarization. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-ai-doc-better-future-dreading-current-architects/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2026. Festival review. The critic finds the documentary an unproductive both-sides effort that is too little and too late on AI. It singles out the film's framing around director Daniel Roher's personal anxieties about fatherhood as making the project seem self-centered rather than broadly relevant. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist.md