John Mosby looks at the pros and cons of entertainment’s next virtual wave…
Unless you’ve been living under a pixel for the last few years, you cannot have avoided the discussion about AI on both a technological level and a moral one. We’re decades beyond the tales of the Terminator and other fictional ‘rise of the machines’ cinematic experiences and in a place where, in real life, computers and artificial intelligence are part of our daily lives, there’s even examples of self-contained systems that don’t need human decision-making. (A recent study concerning AI also showed computers lying to operators…so, hey, the jury is still out, though you could always ask your Alexa..?). Sentient, duplicitous machines would obviously have repercussions with global implications, but even in ‘smaller’ more intimate arenas, such as art… ah, well there’s the rub. In illustration and moving pictures, is less a maniacal AI just another dynamic asset to draw from the toolbox or a lazy shortcut?
Actual Armageddon not withstanding, one of the biggest everyday arguments about AI is on the creative side. The likes of Marvel Comics and DC Comics have now formally acknowledged policies that they will not hire ‘creatives’ that use AI to create that content. Though there are elements of pragmatic quality control in that position, it’s largely down to one of the key aspects of AI, that it ‘scrapes’ existing artwork and amalgamates it into something else without credit and – far too often – without even seeking permission. (But it’s also the comics industry noting the public reaction to this – after all, neither company seems to react quite as vigorously when some of their artists actively trace material). Ask an AI service to render something in the style of an existing creator and within seconds you can have it… but that original creator doesn’t see a penny and probably never knew his/her name was in a database that’s being sought through to produce the ‘new’ art. Equally, legitimate work by artists who have perfected their craft over the years are sometimes wrongly accused. It’s a potential and sometimes subjective minefield.
Move from the page to the screen and it doesn’t get any less controversial, though it’s something of a moving target…
“It’s now AI’s turn to be the bad guy. But if you ask any VFX artist, it’s just another tool. And an amazing one at that. It can do practically anything in a fraction of the time… for those who have embraced it, it’s not taking our jobs, it’s letting us do our jobs faster and better…” – Bob Chapin.
The gaming world itself has come a long way in just the last decade in upgraded graphics (take for example the difference between the original launch versions of both The Last of Us games and their later ‘Remastered‘ versions. That visual upgrades used in games would spill out into other media was always a given – it would be just how and when. There’s is a sense of graphic evolution and practical world-building in gaming that was always going to expand its horizons in some way. The quality and reach of such hi-res imagery might not be ‘the world outside your door’ as yet, but some of it definitely has your zip-code… [Read More…]
