AI Update: Hollywood's AI Strike, Potentials and Challenges Of AI, Photography Is Dead

Hollywood's AI Nightmare: A Future Where Actors Are Forever Digitized

In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly blurring the lines between reality and the digital realm, Hollywood studios are proposing an outrageous plan that threatens to undermine the very essence of the acting profession. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) recently revealed an AI proposal that sounds more like a dystopian nightmare than a technological breakthrough.

The proposal, aired during the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike announcement, involves scanning background actors and using their digital likenesses in perpetuity. In other words, once scanned, these actors could be digitally resurrected in any future project, without their consent, and without any further compensation.

This is not just an audacious proposition; it's an affront to the acting profession. It's a future where an actor's image, their most personal asset, is commodified and exploited for the studios' endless profit. If a background actor later becomes a star, what's to stop a studio from digitally de-aging or aging them, and casting their digital ghost in a new film? Nothing. It's a future that devalues actors and the very industry the AMPTP claims to support.

This exploitation of AI technology is not limited to the film industry. It's a trend that's spreading across multiple sectors, with workers from various fields facing the threat of being replaced by AI and generative products. These technologies, while impressive, cannot replicate the depth and nuance of human work, and should not be used as a tool for worker exploitation.

As SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) gear up for a historic strike, they hold the future of their industry in their hands. They're not just fighting for fair pay and better working conditions but for the very soul of their profession.

The proposed AI plan is a stark reminder of the power imbalance in Hollywood and the urgent need for stronger protections for actors and creatives. It's a call to action for all those who value the human element in art and entertainment. Let's hope the industry heeds this call before it's too late.

Press Conference Coverage

Riding the Wave of Generative AI:

Imagine a technological tsunami, a wave of change that has the potential to reshape industries and redefine the division of labor between humans and machines. That wave is generative AI, a form of artificial intelligence that goes beyond recognizing patterns and predefined criteria.

In this article, we will explore fundamental realities about generative AI, highlighting its potential, challenges, and the role of leaders in navigating this transformative journey.

We will also discuss some additional challenges that leaders must address to harness the full potential of generative AI. Finally, we will present a key component for leaders to educate themselves and their teams, and to be thoughtfully aggressive in moving forward with generative AI.

Fundamental Realities:

1. Generative AI can create new content from existing data, redefining the division of labor between humans and machines. Leaders must prepare for this transformative shift, reimagining job roles and fostering a culture that embraces AI as a tool for creative augmentation.

2. Generative AI is more versatile than earlier types of automation, allowing for its application across various domains. Leaders must focus on identifying the most beneficial use cases for their organization, aligning them with strategic goals and industry dynamics.

3. Generative AI enables unprecedented personalization, a critical business necessity in today's competitive market. Leaders must champion the deployment of generative AI to deliver deeper personalized customer experiences.

4. Generative AI will automate routine tasks currently done by knowledge workers, liberating human resources for tasks requiring creativity and judgment. Leaders must embrace this automation and focus on reskilling their workforce for the new AI environment.

5. The efficacy of generative AI is rooted in the quality and diversity of the data used to train and support it. Leaders must strategically invest in data governance frameworks and ensure ethical considerations and regulatory compliance.

6. Generative AI will drive transformational change in organizational decision-making processes, enabling businesses to anticipate market trends and customer behavior with unprecedented accuracy. Leaders must lead their organizations into a new era of data-driven decision-making.

7. Generative AI will dramatically accelerate innovation, fueling creative exploration and development within organizations. Leaders must foster a culture of innovation that embraces the power of generative AI.

8. Generative AI is not a plug-and-play solution; it requires a substantial investment in talent development and upskilling. Leaders must drive talent development strategies, fostering a culture of continuous learning and leveraging external expertise when needed.

9. Generative AI will increase cybersecurity risks, requiring robust cybersecurity measures and ongoing vigilance. Leaders must secure their organizations against potential threats and keep pace with technological advancements in cybersecurity.

10. Generative AI is still early in its development, with new developments and advancements emerging daily. Leaders must stay informed and anticipate changes, shaping their business strategy to leverage emerging opportunities and mitigate risks.

Challenges:

1. The magnitude of the economic and societal impacts of generative AI ranges from substantial to unprecedented. Leaders must navigate these transformative waves, integrating AI to enhance productivity while anticipating and mitigating potential job losses.

2. The financial implications of adopting generative AI are yet to be fully clarified. Leaders must conduct thorough cost-benefit analyses and plan for long-term strategic investments.

3. The extent of the impact on authenticity and trust is hard to predict. Leaders must set ethical guidelines for AI use and invest in technologies capable of detecting AI-generated content.

4. Our ability to control dangerous bias in AI-generated outputs is hard to predict. Leaders must ensure AI systems are trained on diverse and representative data sets and have mechanisms in place to scrutinize and correct bias.

5. The pace and extent of AI regulation remain uncertain. Leaders must stay informed and adapt their strategies to evolving regulatory landscapes.

Leadership’s Focus Moving Forward:

Leaders must educate themselves and their teams on the technology and its impact, and be thoughtfully aggressive in moving forward. This involves theoretical understanding, a practical grasp, and a concrete plan for how generative AI can transform their industry, business, and operations. Leaders must strike the right balance, riding the crest of the AI wave without getting swept away, making informed decisions, taking calculated risks, and learning from both successes and failures.

Generative AI is a powerful wave of change that requires leaders to navigate its potential and challenges. By understanding the essential truths, addressing uncertainties, and embracing the overarching imperative, leaders can ride the wave of generative AI, harnessing its immense power to propel their business forward.

Photography Is Dead

One of my favorite YouTube photography creators, Peter McKinnon walks through a series of AI edits he used bringing us back to the actual starting photo.

Truly an exciting and scary at the same time experience by the time he’s done. In this case, he did start with an image that he captured, but it is way off from the end result.