AI Benefits Come at a Cost Andy Marken May 31, 2024
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After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. - Morpheus, The Matrix, WarnerBros, 1999
We don't think DaVinci Code's Sir Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen) ever bumped into generative AI when he said, The mind sees what it chooses to see.
We know AI is the savior of the universe; but increasingly, the stuff that gets the most visibility is crap your mind doesn't want to see.
Accounting firm PWC projected that by 2030, artificial intelligence will contribute more than $15.7T to the world economy and boost local economies' GDP (gross domestic product) by 26 percent.
It's going to make everything great, do no harm and make our lives so much easier.
The discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, the industrial revolution, the invention of the computer-heck, even the roll-out of the internet pale in comparison.
And if it's used the wrong way, we'll develop laws to ensure it's safe.
Are you S***in us? Even Elon Musk (and we're far from one of his fans) believes AI is one of the biggest threats to humanity.
Source - Pinterest
Okay, the genie is out of the bottle.
According to industry analysts, there are about 70,000 AI companies around the globe; one in four is based in the US but according to many experts, China is on track to be the global leader.
IBM's Global AI Adoption Index shows that 85 percent of businesses are using/exploring AI and 50 percent of the firms have reported significant savings.
Attend any convention and 100 percent of the products, services and toys being introduced will have AI in them even if the folks in the booths can't pronounce the word.
In other words, AI is the hottest thing to make big bucks with.
Source - Freepik
And what could possibly go wrong?
It's as soft and cuddly as a doll or as cute and as exciting/fun as a Barbie movie, despite the fact that it has all of the potential side effects of Oppenheimer.
But AI is so all encompassing that it means different things to different people so, let's focus on something that in one way or other touches everyone entertainment.
Last year, the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) shut the US video content industry down for five months while they worked to hammer out AI guide rails (and other stuff) with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers).
The shutdown cost California's economy an estimated $30M a day, the industry an estimated $2.1B and a huge backlog of movie/show productions that will take a couple of years to dig out from under.
The rest of the industry around the globe paid close attention because folks knew that sooner/later, AI would help/affect them. All of the participants claimed success, even as the US industry shed 37,700 jobs, according to Milken Institute.
Don't get us wrong, AI will continue to help the industry produce a steady stream of blockbusters, good/decent and ho-hum/sucky projects.
We're really impressed with the results we've seen when AI is combined with Unreal Engine's real-time 3D tools and Nvidia's advanced GPUs (graphic processor units) that have helped creatives produce ultra-real visuals and immersive content.
Add to that, the new AI-enabled tools Adobe and Avid have introduced for postproduction folks and we're seeing shows that are better than we could have ever hoped for/imagined.
And let's not forget that we get to see/enjoy shows from every studio and indie around the world, thanks to AI-enabled sub/dub technology.
If that's not enough, you can be sure it will play a good, bad, ugly role in the US's biggest comedy/drama/horror/thriller/crime/action show that takes place every four years the election.
But sorry folks, no politics discussed here move on.
Thanks to the huge amount of data you provide them and they scrape every time you watch one of their shows/movies; studios and streamers are able use AI to more precisely shape and create video content most folks are going to like so, they stick around longer and hopefully don't bail on the streaming service.
Source - Kaltura
Recommendation engines have improved significantly over the years as streamers fight to keep us from leaving their silo of content for someone else's.
The big problem is that one service's AI engine doesn't have a clue as to what's available on the other four ad-supported and two free services, so we still go from one service to another until we settle on something to watch.
Okay, they might but if they do, they don't say, Hey if you really want to watch something tonight that is going to be totally down your alley, go over to (name) and tell em we suggested this.
Maybe someday, but if it does, we're going to miss wasting 10-15 minutes jumping around, searching, thinking about it and finally settling, knowing we had the final decision. Being married and with two kids, it's one of the few decisions we get to make occasionally.
Global Investment - Marketing organizations around the world will continue to increase their investment in reaching consumers. Advertising will be increasingly developed and delivered intelligently to reach people who are really interested rather than blind masses. Video delivery will be the growing segment of creative advertising.
Whether you read it, watch it, listen to it or make it, information and entertainment is a big and vital industry.
It seems like everyone is interested in using AI when it comes to basic, routine stuff.
Yes, there&#
