- The Rock has discovered AI
- He's ChatGPT positive
- The AI gave him a fantastic workout program and something else to chew on
The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) can be forgiven if he's only just now getting on the fast-moving AI train. The AI revolution, arguably kicked off by ChatGPT in 2022, is not even five years old, and in that time, The Rock has made five films, including big tent-pole features like Black Adam and Red One, Oscar Bait The Smashing Machine, and the Disney live-action Moana remake.
These are the days when film, TV, and even online video stars come out for or against a technology that may be eating their lunch. In January, SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin called the changes AI has wrought in his industry an "existential threat." Johnson is a SAG-AFTRA member, and while his superstar status might protect him from AI taking his job, there's no stopping someone from generating unsanctioned AI videos of Johnson in action.
Johnson, though, who sat down for a lengthy interview with Esquire Magazine, is more than just sanguine about AI; he's kind of a fan.
"I’ve always been an advocate for embracing big change—after taking a hard look at it...we can either stick our heads in the sand and be afraid, or we can say, 'Okay, we’re here. Let’s see. Let’s explore,'” Johnson told the magazine.
And explore he has. The former pro wrestler and noted fitness buff who's probably known as much for his physique as he is for his charming on-screen persona, installed ChatGPT just weeks ago and, as one does, he began quizzing it about a workout regimen,
For a novice, Johnson's ability to craft a usable prompt was impressive. He said he poured all kinds of details into it, like what he ate, how he slept, and his goals.
If, like many of us, you've been using ChatGPT or another generative chatbot for years, the results might not surprise you, but Johnson was blown away by the response. He said the training program was "Like it came from ten of the greatest coaches I’ve ever worked with. [It was] very specific. I wound up having an extraordinary fucking workout," he told Esquire.
Here at TechRadar, a few of us have been using AI to help us improve our exercise routines and, in general, have discovered the same thing: it knows us and can believably play a fitness expert.
The Rock in the People's House?
The interview is well worth a read because, after that first prompt and with the Esquire reporter watching, Johnson asked about the possibility of his running for President of the United States. This has come up before. I've read interviews with him going back almost a decade that have posed the same question, but this is the first time Johnson asked an AI — in this case ChatGPT — about his prospects. Really, he was asking, if he ran, why would people choose to vote for him?
Nothing that ChatGPT came back with is surprising. It notes the actor's likability, that he's not a politician, that he's not divisive, and his background, which was not always easy (find and stream the now-canceled TV show Young Rock if you can).
The answer, though, appeared to surprise Johnson, and who knows what comes next.
In the end, ChatGPT received an endorsement of sorts from one of the world's most popular actors, and The Rock may be freshly considering a run for the White House. Not shocking, really, but it might be worth remembering his words about AI writ large: "We can either stick our heads in the sand" or "we can say...Let’s explore." At the very least, you might end up with one of the best workouts of your life.
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