Matthew McConaughey issues stark warning to actors about AI: ‘Own your own lane’

Matthew McConaughey has issued a stark warning about the future of the entertainment industry, with concerns that artificial intelligence will eventually take over.

During A CNN & Variety Town Hall Event, the 56-year-old actor spoke to Timothée Chalamet about AI’s place in the film and TV business. McConaughey voiced his fears about the technology’s potential to “replace” actors one day and how that could affect awards season, especially as the 2026 Oscars draw near.

“It’s damn sure going to infiltrate our category. Does it become another category? Will we be, in five years, having ‘the best AI film’? ‘The best AI actor?’” he said during the event, which included an audience of college students. “Maybe. I think that might be the thing; it becomes another category. It’s gonna be in front of us in ways that we don’t even see. It’s going to get so good we’re not going to know the difference.

“That’s one of the big questions right now: the question of reality,” he continued. “It’s more hazy than ever — in a very exciting way, I think, but also a scary way.

He then urged students to “prep for it. Own your own lane, so you at least have agency when it starts to trespass.”

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McConaughey also hypothesized a few scenarios with Chalamet — who received two Oscar nominations this year for his film Marty Supreme (one for acting and another for producing) — where AI could come into play.

“They gotta come to you and go, ‘Timothée, I’d like you to be at my 50th birthday party in five months, and I’m gonna be in the Bahamas. I know you can’t be there in person, but I’m gonna halo you in and I want you as your character in Marty Supreme,’” he said. “They can do that, but they’re gonna have to come to you to go, ‘Can I?’ Or they’re going to be in breach. And you’ll have the chance to be your own agency and go, ‘Yeah, for this amount.’ Or, ‘No.’”

Chalamet then chimed in to share his thoughts about living in the world of AI, calling it “our war to wage.” He then spoke to the Gen Z students in the audience about how they could perceive AI.

“I think it’s going to be you guys that figure out how to integrate it,” he said. “There’s a huge [responsibility for] people that are positions of power now, like myself, like Matthew, to safe-keep so that doors stay open. Some of the roles I got that helped kickstart my career, I wouldn’t even know if they’re available today.”

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McConaughey’s comments come a month after he filed to trademark his signature catchphrase “alright, alright, alright,” in a fight against AI deepfakes.

“My team and I want to know that when my voice or likeness is ever used, it’s because I approved and signed off on it. We want to create a clear perimeter around ownership with consent and attribution the norm in an AI world,” the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star told The Wall Street Journal at the time.

The actor previously signed off on AI replicating his voice for the sake of his newsletter, Lyrics of Livin’. In November, he partnered with AI audio company ElevenLabs to create a synthetic version of his voice to read out a Spanish-language audio version of his weekly newsletter.

McConaughey isn’t the only celebrity who’s vocalized their concerns about AI. In September, multiple Hollywood stars hit back at how AI actress Tilly Norwood attracted agency interest. In the Heights star Melissa Barrera wrote on her Instagram Stories: “Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$. How gross, read the room.”