We live in a strange era. For most of history, people have had a sense of logic to the world; a logic something that could be used to determined the absurd from the realistic. In modernity, specially in these past years, it has felt like this logic has abandon us to the point that the things we would have previously laughed about, are now urgently real. Shifts and threats that would be restricted to tall tales or novels becoming reality in ways that are disruptive and sometimes actively malicious. So lets talk about "deepfakes".
AI, that is something you don't seem to be able to avoid talk thereof these days. AI will replace artists, AI will replace authors, those are some of the common talking points. But AI will replace, "you"? Deepfake technology is a collective term used to describe software that is able to replicate the likeness and even the voice of a person to such an extent that people may confuse it for the reality. People like Tom Hanks, leading actor for movies such as Forest Gump or Saving Private Ryan, has had to deal with digital imitators. An AI clone had been used in Instagram advertisements against the consent of Hanks, leading the actor to release a statement clarifying what was happening. On a concerning note, many technology companies have pitched the concepts of AI clones as a solution to the problem of having to treat human beings as people. Naturally, this has been a point of contention in the SAG-AFTRA strike, between actors, writers, and the producers.
So we live in a sci-fi movie, what now? One of the things to keep in mind is that AI, by the nature of it being code, can only make things through a series of average values derived from calculus expressions. As such, AI can never have an "understanding" of the task it has been assigned to do. Once it has to go outside the box it was design for, if it can even, the AI has no capacity to adapt or innovate, only copy what it was trained on. It is not a dynamic system that can create its own ideas, instead it is best to think of it as part of the same family of programs such as auto-complete or Instagram filters. As the novelty of the technology fades, people will become urgently aware of its limits. One of the things AI will probably replace are jobs that employers did not see the value thereof in the first place. It will most likely be used by people who want to spend the least amount of money on the particular activity they are employing the AI for. What this means is that whether AI will replace humanity in the workplace is not a question of competency or efficiency, but instead whether the forces that be valued humanity in the first place.
So, what do you think? we would like to hear your opinions about AI and its place in the future, both in the arts and in business. Do you think AI will be here to stay or is it just a passing trend? How have you interacted with AI? Are you concerned that it will be used to harm people or are you excited about what possibilities may open up.
