Artificial intelligence is developing so rapidly there will be a backlash of increased desire for human-made products and resources, an American actor told a Bermuda audience.

“If you are a true creative who understands how to create and build, the things you make with your hands will be worth way more in the future,” said Mack Wilds, known for television shows such as 90210 and The Wire.

Mr Wilds said AI can be helpful, but too much can be harmful.

He wished there were safeguards in place to keep AI as a tool. However, Mr Wilds said, the challenge is defining the parameters of that.

He spoke during an event called Business of Art: A Fireside Chat with Mack Wilds arranged by the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation for Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Mr Wilds told moderator Nhuri Bashir, of Burnt House Productions, that he wanted to do something creative from a young age, but did not know exactly what.

“I grew up in a very creative household,” he said.

Going to school in New York City, he tried his hand at everything from painting to playing instruments to singing in the choir.

He was in a few school plays, but did not know you could get paid to act until a classmate appeared in a television commercial.

“He said he got paid $5,000 and got paid more every time the commercial ran,” Mr Wilds said. “I thought: I’m doing these school plays for free?”

In his teens, he began auditioning for roles in television shows and movies.

“It was a lot of hard work,” he said. “I was a kid living in a bad neighbourhood trying to do something with my life.”

He said actors typically go through 600 auditions before they land a part.

“Sometimes they don’t even tell you why you have been rejected,” he said. “You could be too tall or too short for the part. You could be too dark-skinned or too light-skinned. It could literally be anything but your talent.”

He quickly learnt how to brush off the rejections.

At 16, he landed the role of AJ in the 2005 miniseries Miracle’s Boys. A year later he played Michael Lee in HBO’s The Wire and then was Dixon Wilson in the CW’s 90210.

Today, Mr Wilds is also a recording artist and record producer. His 2013 debut studio album, New York: A Love Story, was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014.

Mr Wilds had to learn to manage himself as an entity and a commodity.

“You have to start thinking of yourself as having a service that you provide to people,” he said. “You have to look at how you can best provide that service and how you can best be compensated. What are you worth and how do you raise that worth?”

His advice to other people entering the arts and entertainment industry: find like-minded people.

“Find people who are going in the same direction as yourself,” he said. “There will be all these people along the way and you will need to figure out how to deal with them.”