AI & Writing

[Rev. Powell]

My April Fool's Day blog post was written by A.I.: https://366weirdmovies.com/the-future-of-film-critique-at-366-weird-movies/

I only added a few words. It's actually well-written. Real reviews, however, would be bland, because A.I. is not opinionated, instead reflecting a homogenized consensus.

[Rev. Powell]

On the e-cig forum I lurk on, there are a couple of posters that are clearly bots (or maybe humans) posting AI generated answers to user questions. They are vaguely on topic and sound like posts composed by costumer service reps. Frightening.

[pacman000]

What Hollywood execs don't realize: if & when AI gets good enough, their customers will no longer need them. A viewer will be able to type what he or she wants to see into a computer, & the computer will be able to generate a movie suited to that viewer's tastes right then & there.

This isn't a new idea; it's been a concept in sci-fi for decades. But the tech wasn't really ready till today; AI kinda plateaued for a bit in the early '90's

It's still possible the tech will plateau again, as it did in the early '90's. If it does, it could become a useful tool, allowing smaller artists to create without huge Hollywood budgets. But if it doesn't... If it doesn't this will be like radio vs. TV. Worse.

Art will always exist, but it may not have a commercial future. If AI continues to advance there will be high art in galleries, folk art made by people who want to express themselves, but little or no commercial art or entertainment art. I don't think there's anything we can do about this; even if someone makes some law, not all countries will enact similar laws, & the internet will allow consumers to search out & find a site or program that can create whatever they want to see.

[Rev. Powell]

What Hollywood execs don't realize: if & when AI gets good enough, their customers will no longer need them. A viewer will be able to type what he or she wants to see into a computer, & the computer will be able to generate a movie suited to that viewer's tastes right then & there.

This isn't a new idea; it's been a concept in sci-fi for decades. But the tech wasn't really ready till today; AI kinda plateaued for a bit in the early '90's

It's still possible the tech will plateau again, as it did in the early '90's. If it does, it could become a useful tool, allowing smaller artists to create without huge Hollywood budgets. But if it doesn't... If it doesn't this will be like radio vs. TV. Worse.

Art will always exist, but it may not have a commercial future. If AI continues to advance there will be high art in galleries, folk art made by people who want to express themselves, but little or no commercial art or entertainment art. I don't think there's anything we can do about this; even if someone makes some law, not all countries will enact similar laws, & the internet will allow consumers to search out & find a site or program that can create whatever they want to see.

That is likely but art will persist. Human-made art will have a certain cachet, like home-cooked meals, handmade furniture, etc. I imagine musicians will continue to perform live. But it will be a niche thing. Regular entertainment may be largely AI generated and customized to the viewer's taste---which means they will get exposed to even fewer new ideas and perspectives than they are now.

[pacman000]

Maybe there's more hope than I first thought; computers have been able to "compose" music for 40 years, & John Williams still has a job:

In the early 1980s, [David] Cope had a commission for an opera, but was dealing with a serious case of composer's block. Like many artists when facing a deadline, Cope procrastinated by beginning a new project, in this case, working on a music composition program.

"I decided I would just go ahead and work with some of the AI I knew and program something that would produce music in my style. I would say 'ah, I wouldn't do that!' and then go off and do what I would do. So it was kind of a provocateur, something to provoke me into composing." Cope said.

https://computerhistory.org/blog/algorithmic-music-david-cope-and-emi/

David Cope has a YouTube channel, with example of his music, & music composed by his program: https://www.youtube.com/@davidhcope