‘SNL’ alum Alex Moffat on his ‘Hacks’ cameo and playing an AI d-bag
When it comes to playing a snobby AI tech figure in Hacks Season 5, Saturday Night Live‘s Alex Moffat knew exactly how to play it.
**Spoiler alert for Season 5 Episode 6 of Hacks**
Though he says he cannot pretend to be anything like Graham Sweeney — the tech billionaire who entices Deborah (Jean Smart) with his promises of a massive check if she sells her material for his AI company to use — Moffat told DECIDER that the role immediately attracted him for a myriad of reasons.
“I thought, ‘Yep, timely, this seems right, Right on time,’” the comedian and performer said with a laugh, “I think I’m just the guy to step in and represent all of AI in the Hacks universe.”
To do that, Moffat said he studied up on a few different people pertinent to the role, including tech CEOs, AI figureheads, and anyone who might be controversial. Not naming names, but you know the type — mathematical, cunning, a little too casual with the future of humanity and the meaning of art, etc.
“It was an amalgamation, I would say,” Moffat said of who he wanted his character to read as, “It felt like a fun chance to kind of play the other side of things, which I always enjoy. It’s fun to play a bit of a heel sometimes.”
And it’s a storyline he found to be needed now more than ever. On top of the artistic theft committed by many AI chatbots and services, artificial intelligence has been proven to have dire consequences when it comes to the environment and sustainable efforts. One estimate from the Energy Department and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory predicts that some hyperscale facilities — data centers where AI manufacturers operate out of — could use as many as 33 billion gallons of water annually by 2028, which could lead to a shortage of clean and safe water.
“I do think it’s the thing that will destroy humanity, and I think it’s already, and in ways we don’t even really talk about all that, like the environmental impact of it blows my mind. It’s mind-boggling. I wish we could just, like, unplug the machine, you know what I mean? Like, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle, or is there? I don’t know. We have created the thing that will murder us in our sleep. And, you know, that’s what it is to be human,” Moffat said.
He added, “And also, it’s amazing how quickly everybody just was like, ‘Yeah, all right, every single thing I do now, I’m just gonna like look for the AI summary.’ It just happened seemingly overnight. I know it wasn’t, but we’re like in the water now that it’s like, ‘Well there’s no turning back.’ We all have, you know, maybe a decade to live, a decade’s worth of water before it’s Mad Max: Fury Road. Was that uplifting? I hope so.”
The first seven episodes of Hacks Season 5 are now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes drop Thursdays at 6 p.m. PT.
If you’re new to HBO Max, you can sign up for as low as $10.99/month with ads, but an ad-free subscription will cost $18.49/month.
If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the discounted Disney+ Bundles with Hulu and HBO Max. With ads, the bundle costs $19.99/month and without ads, $32.99/month.
