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By Thomas Westerholm
Life & Trends Reporter
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Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky is facing harsh criticism following the release of the first episodes of On This Day… 1776, an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated historical series depicting events from the American Revolutionary War.
The project debuted this week on TIME magazine’s YouTube channel, as Aronofsky released the first two episodes on Thursday on the dates of the historical events they portray.
Viewers, artists and critics say the series exemplifies the ethical and creative problems surrounding generative artificial intelligence.
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The series is set to continue throughout 2026, with episodes rolling out on the 250th anniversary of moments from the founding of the United States.
While the production uses voice performances from union actors and a traditional writers’ room, the visuals are largely generated using AI tools developed by Google DeepMind.
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Why it Matters
Hollywood remains deeply divided over the use of AI in film and television—most artists say the use of AI cuts against human creativity, while only a small number of people have defended the practice.
Both SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America have pushed for protections against AI replacing human labor.
What to Know
On This Day… 1776 is produced by Aronofsky’s AI-focused studio Primordial Soup and presented in partnership with TIME.
According to the producers, the series aims to reframe the American Revolution as an uncertain and fragile experiment rather than an inevitable outcome.
TIME Studios president Ben Bitonti said the project shows, “what thoughtful, creative, artist-led use of AI can look like,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Aronofsky has previously defended the use of AI in storytelling.
“These tools are coming,” the Academy Award-nominated director of such films as Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan and The Whale said in an August interview with The Guardian.
“If we don’t shape these tools, somebody else will."
What People Are Saying
Viewers, however, were not convinced.
"My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined," one critic wrote on a popular Reddit thread.
"I watched a few seconds of it (somewhere it won't count towards the view count) and immediately got p***** off by the constant meaningless slow zooms onto random faces lit ambiguously," a pundit added on another thread.
"At least it shares a lot in common with every other real Aronofsky film in that regard!"
Meanwhile, "A series on the American Revolution generated by AI and presented by Salesforce is a headline that would sound heavy handed if The Onion rolled it out 20 years ago and now look at us," an individual pointed out.
Criticism has also been fierce from media outlets.
Writing for PC Gamer, journalist Joshua Wolens described the AI-generated faces and movements as, “wretched top-to-bottom," adding that the action, "has to keep moving: if it didn't, your brain would start noticing how wrong everything looks."
Meanwhile, Stuart Heritage for The Guardian wrote that the show is, "ugly as sin," and that, "everybody involved should be ashamed."
What’s Next
Despite the backlash, additional episodes of On This Day… 1776 are scheduled to continue releasing throughout the year.
Newsweek has reached out to Darren Aronofsky for comment via his agency.
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, click here.
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