by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
As I keep saying, I can’t predict the future. So, it’s possible that as many people have predicted, the current creative strikes taking place in Hollywood will wrap up sometime in mid-September.
That definitely seems to be a viable possibility.
And, yet, I worry. I worry that Hollywood suits know that if they just wait long enough that the whole thing will be moot. AI will advance just enough that they can realistically produce the usual formulaic drek they always do and they can go about their merry business without any regard to the either writers or actors.
I could totally see suits looking at it this way — all they have to do is endure some pain upfront long enough that, say, 18 months from now, they can atomize things to the point that there are only two types of survivors in the new age of AI: suits and programmers.
Because that definitely seems to be the future we’re careening towards. The vast majority of recorded entertainment will be AI generated and it will be just good enough that the average person won’t even notice. Nearly all of what Hollywood currently generates is extremely bland and forumlatic. It follows a well-worn, well-established beat structure to the point that AI could easily follow it once technology is up to it.
There might be .1% of recorded entertainment that will be grandfathered in that will be human-generated, but, in the end, if you want your entertainment manmade, you’re going to have to go to live theatre.
Again, I am wrong all the time. So, it’s very possible that this will be yet another instance of that. Everything will be wrapped up in mid-September and we’ll punt all my concerns down the road a few more years.
But I worry. I worry a lot.
