True. And yet that negative result will serve to break up what needs to be broken, so something else can emerge. Something magnificent is happening. I know it sounds counterintuitive. Yes, gen #AI is one of the worst ideas society has ever come up with. Yes it will destroy jobs, and more importantly crush people’s sense of self and worth. However, what was borne of greed will happen to give way to something very special, something truly new. When a certain structure is inflexible and is not shifting as it should (the arts, education, etc), then it needs to be destroyed. There is sometimes no other way for the truly new and unique to emerge, as it’s meant to.
Both things can be true: gen #AI is bad for our society, AND ALSO gen AI’s destruction will finally clear the structures that were too stubborn to allow The New.
Since the spring of 2023, I’ve been telling people how gen AI is fueled by greed and how it will cause destruction. I have said this knowing I can’t stop it. I have said this so that people aren’t surprised by the tsunami of AI infiltration into our systems and institutions. I also say it to point fingers at those tech bros, studio execs, CEOs, etc who worship money for having disregarded any respect for human effort and worth.

#SocialMediaVideoCritique
- This one is a fresh piece.
- The actress is playing a bird who is crushed that "her family" (the birds who raised her) have left the nest.
- She takes this as an enormous rejection with "I'm (a) white (bird). I shouldn't be taking up space (in this nest)."
- We understand immediately that she has donned the beige cape of a Boreal or Elf owl to cover her white feathers and fit in. The actress' beige sweater neatly accomplishes this.
- The makeup department has done a great job in applying smudged black eye pencil under her eyes. We understand that the character tried to look more like a Boreal owl, by simulating their eye area markings.
- Cast pictures are below. Fin. The "White Bird"

#SocialMediaVideoCritique
- We again have that overhead light issue, but the director tries to counter that by putting a brimmed cap on the actor.
- Unfortunately, this causes a diffused light on the actor’s face. Better to turn off the overhead light and set a key light on 1/

https://twitter.com/ptlradioshow/status/1854604761666043999

-… the actor’s face.
- The footage is out of focus. We see the knit of the sweater in focus, but not our actor’s face. Be sure to rehearse beforehand to set focal distance.
- There are distracting objects in the background, one behind his head and one camera right. 2/

Decompressing from walking on eggshells for the past four years. I have found the last four years to be an almost intolerable period. A very un-American period in that any questioning, any opinions, any likes or dislikes were held up to a very limited list of “permitted positions” in order to assess acceptability. 2/

As a filmmaker, I want to point out the issues with these recently released projects. #SocialMediaVideoCritique
- The actress starts out 3/4 figure, but the she needs to lean over to have her 2-Ts shot in frame. Consider placing the camera higher, so she doesn’t have to 1/

https://twitter.com/eastendjoe/status/1854348726606713277

-…make this effort.
- the dialogue is spoken at low volume and is difficult to hear. Perhaps the Director is adding the element of danger, and that there was someone in the house who might be dismayed by this scene. Or perhaps the location was not secured with permits, etc.. 2/

Are you paying attention? Do you see what is creeping along, seeping into our systems and institutions? See how Altman & other tech bros are planting this “#AI religion”? That their AI models are “god,” always with you, giving you “wisdom,” and 1/

https://twitter.com/tsarnick/status/1853539658954932521

Altman suggesting God is onboard with this plan to replace our relationship with Him with a relationship with #AI models instead. Watch closely. They will say things like this more and more, so they can suck the life out of you, emotionally, 2/

I hope people are understanding what’s being said by Sam Altman, the lunatic to whom everyone is capitulating their lives. He is lying that #AGI is “inevitable.” It’s like saying the pouring of sugar over everything you eat is “inevitable,” because he benefits from the pour. 1/ This quote is supposed to refer to OpenAI’s “safety issue.” It also reflects Altman’s refrain, insisting we need some dumb algorithmic formula to pretend to “think” for us. “Life’s too hard, you have to have #AI do it for you.”
Complete nonsense. 2/ mashable.com/article/openai…

#SAG Actors, I want to make you aware of some of the language in the #AI portion of the tentative SAG agreement.
Though SAG leadership made much effort to protect members in AI, there are many issues you should look at. I have saved the most serious issue for the end. 1/ If a “digital double” is made of you during a film, they must get your consent and inform you of their intentions for its use, EXCEPT "when the photography or sound track remains substantially as scripted, performed and/or recorded.”2/

On the eve of the AMPTP #SAG negotiations resuming, I want to remind actors, particularly the most famous of you, of what’s at stake in #AI. As the AI advisor to the SAG talks, I won’t be able to speak as freely once the negotiations resume. 1/ As of now, there are no entertainment union restrictions on generative #AI models ingesting 100 years of films/series, slicing and dicing them, and then popping out patchwork spoonfuls of all that work.
I assume the AMPTP is going to try to pattern-bargain that on SAG. 2/

“Don’t Touch the Art.”
My @FastCompany Op-Ed on the CEO’s neglect of 100 years of film/series, and how the term “content” came to be. fastcompany.com/90944082/justi… “The museum staff equivalent in the film business are the CEOs & executives at studios and streaming services. They are charged with protecting the art of film/television series. But at this moment, it does not feel like this particular “staff” is looking after this art at all.”

The most offensive use of #AI I have seen so far. This is what “no consent” looks like, @sagaftra.
Salvador Dalí did not consent to his likeness being used like a circus hand puppet. The disgraceful and disrespectful treatment of him by @TheDali Museum is astounding. 1/ .@thedali Museum shows no understanding of art or any knowledge of how to respect artists. Completely shameful.
This is what the studios/streamers want to do with #SAG actors, via #AI.

Want to give you background on the word “content,” as related to Film and Series. 1/ In the late 1990s/early 2000s, everyone had a website. Your lawyer, your hair salon, your dry cleaner, etc. And there was a lot of talk about “getting people to come back to your site.” 2/

I’m a very proud #DGA member, but I wonder about #AI-related details of the new AMPTP deal.
I believe directors will be dealt with in the same way as @Teamsters drivers: AI won’t replace us; there just simply won’t be a use for us in AI films.
dga.org/News/PressRele… And I would like to see language related to prohibiting directors’ past work being used to train LLMs and inform the style of #AI films. The current style-theft in user-gen AI trailers is creatively violating.

The first time I remember hearing the word “content” was around 2005, in reference to material one would put in a website to increase traffic. Your dry cleaner, for example, would get a website and supply “assets” (logo, location photo, etc), 1/ But they then realized they needed something on there to get people to come back and keep them there. That stuff was “content.” A video, a poem, a blog post, it didn’t matter. Now why your dry cleaner needed to keep people on a website is a mystery, but they wanted it. 2/

SAG ACTORS:
I want to talk about AI and how it will affect you.
I’m a former SAG Board Member and former SAG Negotiating Committee member.
I’m also WGA and DGA. 1/ As a coder and someone with a computer science degree I want to tell you where I believe AI is going. 2/

Here’s my theory: Art is ALL going to go AI. All film, all music, all animation, etc. And soon. A friend of mine’s been messing around with AI animation on his IG acct. Another friend who’s an actress has been scanned more than once for films, where they can just use her image if she can’t make it to reshoots or something.