You do not shy from a hard topic. It is valuable to read your thoughts on it.
Two things sprang to mind. First Ghost in the Shell. The independent AI living on the internet wanted a human embodiment. Instead of a physical embodiment, it could be a film embodiment. The independent could create sequences of prompts, generates from films from them and use that as its manifestation to humans.
Second, 120 years ago, in the youth of my great-grandparents, cultural artefacts were mostly the work of artisans and reflected the local culture. AI imagery would put film-making in the hands of artisans that can produce work for small local consumption (this is a mere restatement of one of your points). That local consumption might recreate a local culture as opposed to the current global culture irradiated by Americana. So slop could be local instead of global and participate in recreating local idiosyncrasies and reverse the destruction operated by mass-communication.
I studied law after being raped by an illegal migrant (enabled by police). The enabling factor meant I delayed reporting to the police for three years. Fear of non-crime hate incident record (which I am currently fighting against in courts) for being “racist”. The delay meant I could not receive representation for my criminal injury claim -so I had to self-represent my own rape claim. Added degradation and humiliation.
Still, I can’t find representation for my ongoing claims. You and similar people have been useful in directing me to potential claims which are underway. And so there are many claims which I am bringing as a Litigant in Person (LiP). However, to bring this many claims (we are talking dozens- plural) I absolutely must have help.
I have an absolute love of law. Not legislation or the legal system but a love of law and order. I’m fascinated by the manipulation of law and language in the current day and also having the opportunity to apply my own interpretation to the law to bring an order that I think is fairer. I have my own interpretation of the Bible (that we are in fact in Revelation 20, Satans Season of deception - not everyone’s cup of tea, I appreciate).
I have found AI to be on top form in helping with this intention of mine. Not to lead in my own interpretation, but to assist. I only discovered it’s use to assist when friends within the legal system advised they use AI to write up legal letters, assist with firm filing etc. Although it requires double checking, it has meant I can bring far more claims than I initially anticipated.
My point being, if you have a love, if you have a purpose - then you should reach to fulfill it and accept every offer of assistance open to you. You should never feel guilty about requiring that assistance and always accept it gracefully. Chase your dreams and your purpose.
I think that what's actually going to happen is that there's going to be an "arms-race" between human discrimination and AI slop. (IOW something like the arms race in nature between, e.g., creatures that can camouflage themselves and creatures that need to be able to detect camouflaged creatures to survive.)
The point about devaluing human effort is spot on, but only if people can't discriminate,. But I think a sizeable chunk of the population probably will come to develop such discrimination and that will put a premium on well-made, human-made product.
I'm reminded of an s-f short story by John Varley, about a pure egalitarian commie utopia where everyone is literally a clone and they all dress and look the same; yet they develop their own ways of microsopically super-subtle discrimination. (I think the s-f writer Jack Vance had some stories with similar themes - e.g. an egalitarian commie utopia where a subtle turning of the collar speaks volumes about who you are.)
I think also, it's easy enough to find impressive examples of AI mimicry in isolation, but AI isn't yet at the stage where it can do more than produce vignettes that are convincing. To make a whole movie would still require significant human input and CGI adjuncts. Maybe more sophistication of that kind will come with "AGI" in the future, but the point is that to really fool us, AI would have to understand what it's doing the same way we do, and it's not really that kind of machine yet - and that kind of understanding has proved elusive for the AI community so far (which is part of the reason why they went with the brute-force approach of LLMs).
Another way of looking at this is, while yes, it's possible that you could get machines that are actually reflective, intelligent, etc., in more or less the same way that we are, they would necessarily thereby become more "fuzzy" thinkers like we are, which would obviate the whole purpose of machine intelligence, which is to be crisp, binary and fast. So there would be no ROI for it, so it won't get made (unless as a hobby thing in the far future). So the crisp, fast kind of "intelligence" and "understanding" can certainly be an adjunct for us, but it's really no more sophisticated than the Enterprise's computer, which can "understand" and reproduce a range of human speech, can take orders, but is not yet an AI proper (like Data or the some of the hints at holographic life forms, etc.).
There is indeed something wired about looking into the face of a person who never existed, a face that perhaps suggests a life, a history that never was. I do understand that the more realistic the more disconcerting it becomes. However, to some degree we have all lived with this, or at least something very close to it, in many artworks. Whilst much more crude than these AI generated images, when I look at some of my own drawings, I occasionally get the feeling I have created a person out of thin air. If we look to work be artists far more skilled than I, we can very much get the sense of weirdness of reading a face and wondering of the life lived by the person shown on the canvas (obviously depending on it being a generic, or invented person of the artist). So, perhaps to protect ourselves from a serious cognitive dissonance, we can remind ourselves of these sorts of examples from the past.
Now, the interesting possibility of people being able to create independent productions of movies and the like is something we must get involved with. To be able to produce film type stories, without needed a Hollywood budget opens up some very interesting possibilities. Putting censorship to one side, image being able to bring Dr Goebbels novel "Michael" to life, or a pro-Hitler movie, things one would never think could be made. Woes could write a script for a story, and suddenly that is a movie.
I too feel concern about this AI, however I also know that I will want to use it, hopefully tastefully, to further my artistic work and to spread ideas.
I share your concerns about hyperreality. However, I've been using LLMs a lot over the past few months and come to the conclusion that they are just a tool that can be either a crutch or an enhancement, depending on the user. I think it is also worth considering that, before the invention of photography in the 1820s, some artists would create human images purely from imagination, without reference to a live model.
Co-incidentally I just watched an old Michael Crichton film, 'Looker'; in this film beautiful women were computer scanned and 'perfect' 3D models constructed from their image to be used for advertising. The models were then murdered so as to not have to keep paying them royalties and to prevent industrial espionage. I suppose people have been worrying about this for some time. Also it apparently includes the first 3D modelled person seen in a film.
Apparently, when people engage with AI chat which effectively simulates human emotions the users then experience reduced empathy for real humans. I suppose there's a suspicion that the real might just be a good fake.
I asked ChatGPT to write poems in the style of Wallace Stevens and TS Eliot, and aphorisms like Kafka's Zürau series. The Eliot came across as a weak pastiche, but the Stevens poem was very accurate, with surprisingly good imagery; however, when I read it aloud it "tasted" bland, unlike Stevens' real poems. The Kafka was interesting, it got the mood right, understood his imagery, it just felt somehow "off", like a clever pastiche by another writer. I guess AI can mimic technique, and so anything formulaic can be easily replaced by AI. To some extent, all creators have their tics, their formulas.
Personally, I don't like it one bit. It feels like a sneering, demonic parody of the human, as if to say "you think you're special, but a machine can replicate you and all your works."
Incidentally, I have a WW2 era Swedish army Feldgrau jacket, it has handstitching and the fabric is superior to almost anything you can find today. Better times!
I find the pseudo empathy insufferable after a while. I will sometimes intsruct the LLM to stop doing it. This actually improves clarity of communication when discussing technical Topics.
On a more positive note this may break open the monopoly the establishment has over "high quality" content once again enabling us individuals to compete.
Currently we have billion dollar brainfarts and zero dollar genius that can't compete due to lacking production value. A few years from now the brainfarts may be blown away by the steady wind of equally well produced content of value.
It may usher in a rennaissance of culture, so to speak, akin to the spread of literacy.
Imagine the future modding possibilities. Already digital product placement is a big thing in movies. James Bond might drink a coke for a German audience but a Redbull for the Chinese. This could become on steroids.
Dialogue, plot, setting and cast might change in real time, and custom made for each person watching. Ads will be part of the story based on your own taste. Characters can be based on your own media. consumption. The heroine is a Demi Moore lookalike to one guy while ”that hot weather girl I fancy” to another.
Live interaction might affect the plot. Want a sex scene? Pay a bit extra. Want the villain to win? Buy a coke and scan the code with your phone.
Every item, clothing, gadget can be bought. Just touch the screen.
Change the location? Pin Google map and the last battle will take place in your own home town.
Movies will more and more take the form of fluid daydreaming.
Many have laughed and mocked those who said hug a tree..with what is coming down the line I'd say it's becoming more essential to do so.. Albeit the tree itself is but frequencies of energy..
It is a quandary.. Perfectly put and very well argued..
I've already seen ITV news and Skynews amongst others use Ai imagery of conflict. In this case Yemeni commandos.. That's one I've noticed.. I've missed more I'm sure and as the quality increases will so more frequently..
Ai pornography will be huge.. And will take a chunk out of sites like only fans.. Essentially replacing real women..
Ai imagery is going to change 'reality' beyond our comprehension..forces of good and forces of darkness will utilise it..
The film Bladerunner springs to mind.. Eventually we may not even tell who's human anymore..
Hi Millenial Woes,
You do not shy from a hard topic. It is valuable to read your thoughts on it.
Two things sprang to mind. First Ghost in the Shell. The independent AI living on the internet wanted a human embodiment. Instead of a physical embodiment, it could be a film embodiment. The independent could create sequences of prompts, generates from films from them and use that as its manifestation to humans.
Second, 120 years ago, in the youth of my great-grandparents, cultural artefacts were mostly the work of artisans and reflected the local culture. AI imagery would put film-making in the hands of artisans that can produce work for small local consumption (this is a mere restatement of one of your points). That local consumption might recreate a local culture as opposed to the current global culture irradiated by Americana. So slop could be local instead of global and participate in recreating local idiosyncrasies and reverse the destruction operated by mass-communication.
I studied law after being raped by an illegal migrant (enabled by police). The enabling factor meant I delayed reporting to the police for three years. Fear of non-crime hate incident record (which I am currently fighting against in courts) for being “racist”. The delay meant I could not receive representation for my criminal injury claim -so I had to self-represent my own rape claim. Added degradation and humiliation.
Still, I can’t find representation for my ongoing claims. You and similar people have been useful in directing me to potential claims which are underway. And so there are many claims which I am bringing as a Litigant in Person (LiP). However, to bring this many claims (we are talking dozens- plural) I absolutely must have help.
I have an absolute love of law. Not legislation or the legal system but a love of law and order. I’m fascinated by the manipulation of law and language in the current day and also having the opportunity to apply my own interpretation to the law to bring an order that I think is fairer. I have my own interpretation of the Bible (that we are in fact in Revelation 20, Satans Season of deception - not everyone’s cup of tea, I appreciate).
I have found AI to be on top form in helping with this intention of mine. Not to lead in my own interpretation, but to assist. I only discovered it’s use to assist when friends within the legal system advised they use AI to write up legal letters, assist with firm filing etc. Although it requires double checking, it has meant I can bring far more claims than I initially anticipated.
My point being, if you have a love, if you have a purpose - then you should reach to fulfill it and accept every offer of assistance open to you. You should never feel guilty about requiring that assistance and always accept it gracefully. Chase your dreams and your purpose.
I think that what's actually going to happen is that there's going to be an "arms-race" between human discrimination and AI slop. (IOW something like the arms race in nature between, e.g., creatures that can camouflage themselves and creatures that need to be able to detect camouflaged creatures to survive.)
The point about devaluing human effort is spot on, but only if people can't discriminate,. But I think a sizeable chunk of the population probably will come to develop such discrimination and that will put a premium on well-made, human-made product.
I'm reminded of an s-f short story by John Varley, about a pure egalitarian commie utopia where everyone is literally a clone and they all dress and look the same; yet they develop their own ways of microsopically super-subtle discrimination. (I think the s-f writer Jack Vance had some stories with similar themes - e.g. an egalitarian commie utopia where a subtle turning of the collar speaks volumes about who you are.)
I think also, it's easy enough to find impressive examples of AI mimicry in isolation, but AI isn't yet at the stage where it can do more than produce vignettes that are convincing. To make a whole movie would still require significant human input and CGI adjuncts. Maybe more sophistication of that kind will come with "AGI" in the future, but the point is that to really fool us, AI would have to understand what it's doing the same way we do, and it's not really that kind of machine yet - and that kind of understanding has proved elusive for the AI community so far (which is part of the reason why they went with the brute-force approach of LLMs).
Another way of looking at this is, while yes, it's possible that you could get machines that are actually reflective, intelligent, etc., in more or less the same way that we are, they would necessarily thereby become more "fuzzy" thinkers like we are, which would obviate the whole purpose of machine intelligence, which is to be crisp, binary and fast. So there would be no ROI for it, so it won't get made (unless as a hobby thing in the far future). So the crisp, fast kind of "intelligence" and "understanding" can certainly be an adjunct for us, but it's really no more sophisticated than the Enterprise's computer, which can "understand" and reproduce a range of human speech, can take orders, but is not yet an AI proper (like Data or the some of the hints at holographic life forms, etc.).
There is indeed something wired about looking into the face of a person who never existed, a face that perhaps suggests a life, a history that never was. I do understand that the more realistic the more disconcerting it becomes. However, to some degree we have all lived with this, or at least something very close to it, in many artworks. Whilst much more crude than these AI generated images, when I look at some of my own drawings, I occasionally get the feeling I have created a person out of thin air. If we look to work be artists far more skilled than I, we can very much get the sense of weirdness of reading a face and wondering of the life lived by the person shown on the canvas (obviously depending on it being a generic, or invented person of the artist). So, perhaps to protect ourselves from a serious cognitive dissonance, we can remind ourselves of these sorts of examples from the past.
Now, the interesting possibility of people being able to create independent productions of movies and the like is something we must get involved with. To be able to produce film type stories, without needed a Hollywood budget opens up some very interesting possibilities. Putting censorship to one side, image being able to bring Dr Goebbels novel "Michael" to life, or a pro-Hitler movie, things one would never think could be made. Woes could write a script for a story, and suddenly that is a movie.
I too feel concern about this AI, however I also know that I will want to use it, hopefully tastefully, to further my artistic work and to spread ideas.
I share your concerns about hyperreality. However, I've been using LLMs a lot over the past few months and come to the conclusion that they are just a tool that can be either a crutch or an enhancement, depending on the user. I think it is also worth considering that, before the invention of photography in the 1820s, some artists would create human images purely from imagination, without reference to a live model.
I think it will be option 2, Disney slop for the masses and bespoke for the thoughtful, a good use of AI.
Co-incidentally I just watched an old Michael Crichton film, 'Looker'; in this film beautiful women were computer scanned and 'perfect' 3D models constructed from their image to be used for advertising. The models were then murdered so as to not have to keep paying them royalties and to prevent industrial espionage. I suppose people have been worrying about this for some time. Also it apparently includes the first 3D modelled person seen in a film.
The picture of the old man is real. You’re just playing a nasty trick on us. lol.
Take the red pill and I will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Apparently, when people engage with AI chat which effectively simulates human emotions the users then experience reduced empathy for real humans. I suppose there's a suspicion that the real might just be a good fake.
I asked ChatGPT to write poems in the style of Wallace Stevens and TS Eliot, and aphorisms like Kafka's Zürau series. The Eliot came across as a weak pastiche, but the Stevens poem was very accurate, with surprisingly good imagery; however, when I read it aloud it "tasted" bland, unlike Stevens' real poems. The Kafka was interesting, it got the mood right, understood his imagery, it just felt somehow "off", like a clever pastiche by another writer. I guess AI can mimic technique, and so anything formulaic can be easily replaced by AI. To some extent, all creators have their tics, their formulas.
Personally, I don't like it one bit. It feels like a sneering, demonic parody of the human, as if to say "you think you're special, but a machine can replicate you and all your works."
Incidentally, I have a WW2 era Swedish army Feldgrau jacket, it has handstitching and the fabric is superior to almost anything you can find today. Better times!
I find the pseudo empathy insufferable after a while. I will sometimes intsruct the LLM to stop doing it. This actually improves clarity of communication when discussing technical Topics.
On a more positive note this may break open the monopoly the establishment has over "high quality" content once again enabling us individuals to compete.
Currently we have billion dollar brainfarts and zero dollar genius that can't compete due to lacking production value. A few years from now the brainfarts may be blown away by the steady wind of equally well produced content of value.
It may usher in a rennaissance of culture, so to speak, akin to the spread of literacy.
Imagine the future modding possibilities. Already digital product placement is a big thing in movies. James Bond might drink a coke for a German audience but a Redbull for the Chinese. This could become on steroids.
Dialogue, plot, setting and cast might change in real time, and custom made for each person watching. Ads will be part of the story based on your own taste. Characters can be based on your own media. consumption. The heroine is a Demi Moore lookalike to one guy while ”that hot weather girl I fancy” to another.
Live interaction might affect the plot. Want a sex scene? Pay a bit extra. Want the villain to win? Buy a coke and scan the code with your phone.
Every item, clothing, gadget can be bought. Just touch the screen.
Change the location? Pin Google map and the last battle will take place in your own home town.
Movies will more and more take the form of fluid daydreaming.
Many have laughed and mocked those who said hug a tree..with what is coming down the line I'd say it's becoming more essential to do so.. Albeit the tree itself is but frequencies of energy..
It is a quandary.. Perfectly put and very well argued..
I've already seen ITV news and Skynews amongst others use Ai imagery of conflict. In this case Yemeni commandos.. That's one I've noticed.. I've missed more I'm sure and as the quality increases will so more frequently..
Ai pornography will be huge.. And will take a chunk out of sites like only fans.. Essentially replacing real women..
Ai imagery is going to change 'reality' beyond our comprehension..forces of good and forces of darkness will utilise it..
The film Bladerunner springs to mind.. Eventually we may not even tell who's human anymore..
Fantastic article. Thankyou..