Just another open-thread comment about something I read.
In Hollywood, the writers and actors have been on strike. Today, Writers’ Guild leaders announced that they’ve reached an agreement with the studios. I don’t much care about the strike, but I’m curious about the related AI (artificial intelligence) issues. Both writers and actors have been worried that studios will replace them with AI, but studios have been reluctant to negotiate. They say that nobody knows enough about the future applications and effects of AI.
Anyway, I have to wonder whether the Hollywood strike will be a sign of things to come. Will AI become a union issue? Will it become a source of conflict in organizations that aren’t unionized? Will unions use AI opposition as a recruitment tactic? Public employees have been the only growth sector for unions. Will these workers be replaced by AI? Will we thus be governed by AI? Is Joe Biden governed by AI? Is the prospect of AI replacement related to California’s recent attempt to provide striking workers with unemployment benefits? Will blog comments become largely AI-generated?
Here’s what the NY Times had to say:
“The use of A.I., one of the main drivers for writers to call a strike, was the last sticking point. Over the weekend, the studios proposed a few paragraphs to be inserted into the new contact that addressed a guild concern about A.I. and old scripts that studios own. The two sides spent several hours negotiating the language on the final night of talks.”
Regarding AI: It’s a certainty that the overwhelming majority of the activities we call “work” can and will eventually be automated. The current rise of generative AI, with all its flaws and shortcomings, is just an early harbinger of what’s coming. The fact that Hollywood writers have been striking over it doesn’t really change the reality of the coming doom for them any more than buggy whip manufacturers striking 120 years ago in the shadow of the dawn of the mass produced automobile could have effected their future prospects.
But at this point I think LLMs aren’t quite yet ready to completely replace writers. Nor are they quite yet able to completely replace most other white collar office workers like paralegals, accountants, office administrators, financial managers, software developers, logistics managers, event planners, copy editors, or all the other various data management professionals. But sooner or later, it will happen, it’s just a question of when.
For seven years I had an unobstructed view of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings (and many other interesting landmarks) from my Manhattan apartment. Never got tired of the views and ever-changing sky.
@neo: What a wonderful find. Thorough, well paced, great combination of exposition/images, and just plain interesting.
Thanks.
Nonapod:
I see the main threat as reducing the number of white collar jobs rather than replacing them entirely.
AI has made some major strides lately, but we still need (some) real humans to check and coordinate the work.
Generative AI is a powerful cheat, but by its nature I don’t believe it can be perfected to fully replace human intelligence.
I have an animal unease around very tall buildings. My career kept me around, in and up them for three decades but I never found any love for it. Kind of like a reverse acrophobia, sans fear.
AI will always be the Waldo of someone, therefore it will always have a bias.
AI isn’t a thing, it’s a crap load of things, all with different, customizable input limiters in front of their processing.
Architectural Digest makes some wonderful, short videos. I have their channel on our smartTV and Mrs. Firefly and I watch it often.
Just another open-thread comment about something I read.
In Hollywood, the writers and actors have been on strike. Today, Writers’ Guild leaders announced that they’ve reached an agreement with the studios. I don’t much care about the strike, but I’m curious about the related AI (artificial intelligence) issues. Both writers and actors have been worried that studios will replace them with AI, but studios have been reluctant to negotiate. They say that nobody knows enough about the future applications and effects of AI.
Anyway, I have to wonder whether the Hollywood strike will be a sign of things to come. Will AI become a union issue? Will it become a source of conflict in organizations that aren’t unionized? Will unions use AI opposition as a recruitment tactic? Public employees have been the only growth sector for unions. Will these workers be replaced by AI? Will we thus be governed by AI? Is Joe Biden governed by AI? Is the prospect of AI replacement related to California’s recent attempt to provide striking workers with unemployment benefits? Will blog comments become largely AI-generated?
Here’s what the NY Times had to say:
“The use of A.I., one of the main drivers for writers to call a strike, was the last sticking point. Over the weekend, the studios proposed a few paragraphs to be inserted into the new contact that addressed a guild concern about A.I. and old scripts that studios own. The two sides spent several hours negotiating the language on the final night of talks.”
(Story supposedly written by an artisanal human.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/business/wga-writers-strike-deal-explained.html
Maybe if they went to Mexico and came back across the border?
https://cafemom.com/entertainment/bates-family-deportation-controversy/they-are-trying-to-petition-the-u-s-government-to-allow-them-to-stay-as
Regarding AI: It’s a certainty that the overwhelming majority of the activities we call “work” can and will eventually be automated. The current rise of generative AI, with all its flaws and shortcomings, is just an early harbinger of what’s coming. The fact that Hollywood writers have been striking over it doesn’t really change the reality of the coming doom for them any more than buggy whip manufacturers striking 120 years ago in the shadow of the dawn of the mass produced automobile could have effected their future prospects.
But at this point I think LLMs aren’t quite yet ready to completely replace writers. Nor are they quite yet able to completely replace most other white collar office workers like paralegals, accountants, office administrators, financial managers, software developers, logistics managers, event planners, copy editors, or all the other various data management professionals. But sooner or later, it will happen, it’s just a question of when.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beZ1FY9KQnA
==
I doubt the interior decor in neo’s home is so busy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShZ5f0X3jO0
==
Choreographed well, orchestrated well. Plus Lillian Briggs.
For seven years I had an unobstructed view of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings (and many other interesting landmarks) from my Manhattan apartment. Never got tired of the views and ever-changing sky.
@neo: What a wonderful find. Thorough, well paced, great combination of exposition/images, and just plain interesting.
Thanks.
Nonapod:
I see the main threat as reducing the number of white collar jobs rather than replacing them entirely.
AI has made some major strides lately, but we still need (some) real humans to check and coordinate the work.
Generative AI is a powerful cheat, but by its nature I don’t believe it can be perfected to fully replace human intelligence.
I have an animal unease around very tall buildings. My career kept me around, in and up them for three decades but I never found any love for it. Kind of like a reverse acrophobia, sans fear.
AI will always be the Waldo of someone, therefore it will always have a bias.
AI isn’t a thing, it’s a crap load of things, all with different, customizable input limiters in front of their processing.
Architectural Digest makes some wonderful, short videos. I have their channel on our smartTV and Mrs. Firefly and I watch it often.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/fec-commissioner-says-agency-weaponized-against-gop
==
Note, Common Cause is an instrument of this. Frauds.
Rittenhouse’s Surviving BLM Attacker Run Over by Black Driver
It couldn’t happen to a nicer (?) guy!
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/kevindowneyjr/2023/09/24/rittenhouses-surviving-blm-attacker-run-over-by-black-driver-n1729522
This guy is great!