The Unsettling Rise of AI: A Cautionary Tale
Let’s talk about Wes Anderson’s latest film, “Asteroid City”. A thought, as gloomy as a rainy day in London, crossed my mind while I was watching it. What if this film was penned down by ChatGPT, the AI app, instead of the renowned writer-director himself? Would the difference be as stark as night and day, or would it be as subtle as the difference between two shades of blue?
The Insidious Growth of AI
ChatGPT, the AI app, is a mystery to many. But let’s say we feed it a set of parameters – a literary framing device, a surreal setting, a cast of quirky Anderson-esque characters, and a group of geeky yet innocent kids. Would the end result be any different? Or worse? The growth of AI is like a vine, silently creeping up on us, unnoticed. But I’m willing to bet my last dollar that ChatGPT wouldn’t have thought of pairing Anderson with rock legends Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley for the film’s closing number.
The Perils of AI
This column isn’t about dissecting the work of Wes Anderson. It’s about the potential dangers of AI. Everyone has an opinion about AI – just like everyone has a racist uncle. Here’s mine: AI is on the verge of ruling the world. The only question is whether it will be a hostile takeover or a collaborative effort where we humans still hold the reins.
The growth of AI is like a silent predator, stealthily creeping up on us. It’s not like we’ll come home one day to find Alexa lounging on the sofa, watching “2001: A Space Odyssey”, and mimicking HAL 9000’s lines. But the rise of AI doesn’t need to resemble a sci-fi movie for us to start noticing its omnipresence.
The Future of AI
The main concern about AI right now seems to be in the entertainment industry. It’s disheartening that Netflix is training AI to do match cuts in the edit suite. It’s also disappointing that Charlie Brooker’s experiment with ChatGPT to write an episode of “Black Mirror” was misunderstood by the media.
The initial use of AI lies elsewhere, I suspect. When my eldest kid was little, she was obsessed with a series of books called “Rainbow Magic,” written by a non-existent author, Daisy Meadows. It was actually a group of women whose work was only acknowledged by a dedication page. How much of a leap is it to see that anonymous collective being replaced by an AI app that does the same job at the click of a button?
Steven Soderbergh has told the world to relax about AI and regard it as another tool. But that’s exactly what AI wants us to focus on: the small, day-to-day stuff. Mankind has always had a propensity to misuse technology – from splitting atoms to vacuum cleaners – and it would be the most on-brand thing ever if we allowed AI to consign us to its history books.
