I was reading a New York Times article about the "Last Beatles' Song" and pondering this new reality we find ourselves in, fretting over Deep Fakes and authenticity. I share the unease that most do, but what I am understanding today is that we are just entering a new reality where, in the future, it will seem quaint and (perhaps) cool for live people to perform in front of cameras and create movies the traditional way. My first experience of this was was in the Star Wars Rogue One in which both Princess Leia and General Tarkin appear but there is no actor/actress alive to do that role anymore.
In the distant past, the only way to get a story experience was to hear the storyteller tell the tale in your presence. Then books were invented and it became a quaint and cool experience to have someone tell a story in real time straight from their mouth into your ear. There is still a special joy to be had during these times, but it is not the usual way we receive a story anymore. Music is the same way but an in-person experience is still highly valued even if it is by far the more rare way in which we experience music these days. (I could argue that a lot of the appeal of going to live music is less about the music and more about the experience of the event, but I'm not sure about that so I won't). We still go see and enjoy plays as well, but (again) not the standard way in which we enjoy performance pieces anymore is it?
So my prediction is that AI enhanced Deep Fakes will not replace music and cinema as we know it, but it will become the de facto production method in the future (or at the very least, a prominent element in the product). We will, however, still honor and enjoy the quaintness of non-enhanced music/movies and, even more so, the occasional in-person live event.
Unavoidably, future novels, music, and movies will all have AI written/enhanced elements to them unless it is marketed as an "organic" product as a novelty. Perhaps future generations will look at this decade as comparable to the invention of the printing press or the record player. The change in paradigm was not overnight but the societal impact was deep and profound. Fear of the printing press was real and similar to fear of this AI revolution, but I'm guessing we will settle into a new normal and be just fine with it...
So even though I am slightly put off with dead actors and musicians putting out 'new' work, I'm thinking I need to get over it. I'll try to acclimate by enhancing this 'organically' written post with some AI generated art:
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| AI generated from the prompt "Fear of an AI future" |
On the other hand, Nick Cave says we should fight AI tooth and nail:
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