AI vs. TV — An exploration
I’m someone who has lived his professional career seeking out the bleeding edge of innovation. While at Sony Pictures and Netflix, I was at the forefront of disrupting cable TV via streaming services, and since then I’ve been focused on understanding the next imminent disruption. (What I’ve been calling the 3rd age of Media & Entertainment — or #Media3, but that’s another post.)
Even still, I’ve been caught off-guard by speed at which developments in AI are happening. As we try to understand exponential change with our linear monkey-brains, it’s safe to say we’re all on the spectrum of curious-to-confused-to-panicked — with the folks at the end of that continuum already deciding that:
AI is Going to Destroy Hollywood!
This is an especially serious issue in light of what we’re seeing with the WGA strike. There’s a definite existential threat ahead — but I want to find out … how serious is it?
The Big Question
The go-to example that people will give when they try to imagine the future of AI and entertainment is this:
Imagine if I could tell AI to create a new episode of my favorite TV series…
So, I’m asking AI to do that, as an exploration of what is currently the state-of-the-art in the field.
Is this a bad idea?
My wife is a voice actor and she asked me if this was good timing to do this given the WGA strike and it’s also a highly sensitive topic to voice actors right now.
My response was:
It’s better to know what you’re facing with AI than to pretend it doesn’t exist
Here’s a spoiler — My bias going into this is: No, AI cannot replace human creativity
BUT — it will change everything about our working lives, and I think it poses a threat to ‘creative work’ that is routine, or trope-y, or paint-by-the-numbers — because AI can absolutely do that.
My hope is that I come out of this process with a clear sense of where people can focus their time & effort to be even more creative than before. I’m going to see clear limitations in what AI can currently do and will possibly never be able to do.
The Challenge
In thinking about The Big Question — what show would I most like to ask AI to create a new episode of, the answer for me is: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
I already know that there’s no way AIwill come close to replicating the nuanced wit of Douglas Adams, so I think it’s also a great way to highlight its shortcomings.
I plan to use whatever tools are freely available, without getting too technical — remember this is meant to be me, as the general viewer wanting to ask AI for entertainment.
The idea is also to let AI do ALL of the creative, subjective decision making
This is not about leveraging my own creative ideas using AI, I want to get out of the AI’s way as much as I can to see the extent of what it can do.
I’ve got my bathrobe, towel and AI guide … let’s go!
