Okay, this thread is going to come with a bunch of caveats.
First, it is a [+] thread. What that means in this context is: No arguments about the ethics of AI training here. If your definition of AI includes the words "plagiarism machine" this is not the thread for you. Because this thread is speculative, an element of that speculation is that the hypothetical AI in question were trained on sources that were either in the public domain or opt in.
Next, this thread is not about the production of shovelware. Although it is certainly a concern going forward, I do not intend to discuss companies and creators creating crappy AI produced media and charging you for it. Again, that is a concern and a thing that is already happening and we can discuss the trouble that causes elsewhere, but not here.
What I want to talk about here is (again, speculative) a world in which anyone can summon by way of generative AI entertainment media that is a) novel, as in it did not exist before, b) personalized, as in is created based on the preferences of the "summoner", and c) on demand, in that it comes into being immediately or close enough to it.
I was thinking about this as I was playing with claude.ai earlier today. One "genre" of entertainment I like is what I might call fictional-non-fiction, usually stuff like "realistic" responses to fantastical things happening like super heroes appearing or aliens contacting Earth or whatever. And by responses I mean everything from news articles to scientific papers to reddit posts to NY Times op-eds. Claude.ai is actually pretty good at developing this stuff, and has a long enough "memory" to follow a through line. For example, a news story showing a comet heading toward earth followed by a couple opposing view op-eds followed by a reddit post by someone who thinks it is fake and so on.
Anyway, my point is that it is clear that novel, personalized, on demand media is a thing that AI can do. It can already do it with shorter written material and still images. It is only a matter of time before it can do it with longer written works, music and moving images.
Just to reiterate: I am not talking about the current state of where this material was sourced or its quality or anything else. I am talking about it speculatively, with the assumption that a) the right people are being compensated somehow, and b) it's decent, if not good.
Okay, so here is the meat of what I really want to discuss, the thing I find fascinating:
What happens to entertainment, and pop culture, and individuals when there is access to essentially unlimited novel, personalized, on demand media? For example, if I am a person that loves chaste vampire-werewolf teen romance, but I have specific preferences around the cast, the sexual orientations, the geographical or temporal setting, and so on, if I can put in those parameters and summon a book made precisely for me, what does that mean for the creators and publishers of YA urban fantasy romance? What does it means for the fans? What does it mean for me?
NOTE: I don't want to debate quality here. Of course the hypothetical book in the example would be derivative drek, but that actually doesn't matter than much. Most genre fiction, especially what you are going to find on Kindle Unlimited or whatever, is derivative drek.
One thing I wonder about is fandom and shared experience. If everyone is creating novel, personalized, on demand entertainment, what happens to the shared experience aspect and the discussions of plot points and speculation? Could a producer thread the needle? That is, have book 15 in Vampwolf Love Story with some immutable aspects but still let individuals personalize the actual book that comes out? And not just in self insert protagonists, but more broadly. Some reader enjoy short, snappy chapters while others love to wallow in prose. Those are personalization choices AI can or will be able to do.
Anyway, I think it is a really interesting potential development in the way popular entertainment is produced and consumed, and the questions around how that impacts culture are even more interesting to me.
What do you think? Assuming this is a thing that can and will occur, what impacts do you think it will have on culture, fandom and individuals? And would you employ such a service?
Thanks for keeping it civil.
First, it is a [+] thread. What that means in this context is: No arguments about the ethics of AI training here. If your definition of AI includes the words "plagiarism machine" this is not the thread for you. Because this thread is speculative, an element of that speculation is that the hypothetical AI in question were trained on sources that were either in the public domain or opt in.
Next, this thread is not about the production of shovelware. Although it is certainly a concern going forward, I do not intend to discuss companies and creators creating crappy AI produced media and charging you for it. Again, that is a concern and a thing that is already happening and we can discuss the trouble that causes elsewhere, but not here.
What I want to talk about here is (again, speculative) a world in which anyone can summon by way of generative AI entertainment media that is a) novel, as in it did not exist before, b) personalized, as in is created based on the preferences of the "summoner", and c) on demand, in that it comes into being immediately or close enough to it.
I was thinking about this as I was playing with claude.ai earlier today. One "genre" of entertainment I like is what I might call fictional-non-fiction, usually stuff like "realistic" responses to fantastical things happening like super heroes appearing or aliens contacting Earth or whatever. And by responses I mean everything from news articles to scientific papers to reddit posts to NY Times op-eds. Claude.ai is actually pretty good at developing this stuff, and has a long enough "memory" to follow a through line. For example, a news story showing a comet heading toward earth followed by a couple opposing view op-eds followed by a reddit post by someone who thinks it is fake and so on.
Anyway, my point is that it is clear that novel, personalized, on demand media is a thing that AI can do. It can already do it with shorter written material and still images. It is only a matter of time before it can do it with longer written works, music and moving images.
Just to reiterate: I am not talking about the current state of where this material was sourced or its quality or anything else. I am talking about it speculatively, with the assumption that a) the right people are being compensated somehow, and b) it's decent, if not good.
Okay, so here is the meat of what I really want to discuss, the thing I find fascinating:
What happens to entertainment, and pop culture, and individuals when there is access to essentially unlimited novel, personalized, on demand media? For example, if I am a person that loves chaste vampire-werewolf teen romance, but I have specific preferences around the cast, the sexual orientations, the geographical or temporal setting, and so on, if I can put in those parameters and summon a book made precisely for me, what does that mean for the creators and publishers of YA urban fantasy romance? What does it means for the fans? What does it mean for me?
NOTE: I don't want to debate quality here. Of course the hypothetical book in the example would be derivative drek, but that actually doesn't matter than much. Most genre fiction, especially what you are going to find on Kindle Unlimited or whatever, is derivative drek.
One thing I wonder about is fandom and shared experience. If everyone is creating novel, personalized, on demand entertainment, what happens to the shared experience aspect and the discussions of plot points and speculation? Could a producer thread the needle? That is, have book 15 in Vampwolf Love Story with some immutable aspects but still let individuals personalize the actual book that comes out? And not just in self insert protagonists, but more broadly. Some reader enjoy short, snappy chapters while others love to wallow in prose. Those are personalization choices AI can or will be able to do.
Anyway, I think it is a really interesting potential development in the way popular entertainment is produced and consumed, and the questions around how that impacts culture are even more interesting to me.
What do you think? Assuming this is a thing that can and will occur, what impacts do you think it will have on culture, fandom and individuals? And would you employ such a service?
Thanks for keeping it civil.
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