Is the AI Bubble About to Burst in Hollywood?
This Adam Conover interview gave me a lot of hope and excitement.
iRobot
AI quite a hot topic right now, to say the least. Everyone has a strong opinion on where the tech could go, what it can disrupt, and how it factors into Hollywood.
But most of these ideas are simply conjecture.
There's a growing sentiment that this tech bubble is about to burst, especially in Hollywood.
I found this awesome interview between writer Adam Conover, and journalist and influential tech critic Ed Zitron where they discuss the idea that AI might just be a fad passing.
Let's dive in below.
The AI Bubble is Bursting
Adam Conover, a WGA writer behind Adam Ruins Everything and many other shows, is never one to shy away from talking about AI. He was one of my favorite people to listen to during the strikes when it came to explaining points about AI, and I've clung to his explanations to educate myself ever since.
In this hour-plus conversation, he goes into the hype surrounding artificial intelligence and argues that it's not as revolutionary as it seems.
Conover points out that large language models (LLMs), a common type of AI software, are running out of training data and may not improve significantly in the future. There's a limited amount of info out there for them to steal from, and when they reach the end, there's nothing new for them to be able to evolve.
They need us—humans!—to make that happen.
Conover criticizes companies like Facebook and Google for their massive spending on AI research without producing tangible results, citing Google's recent search engine update as an example of prioritizing profit over quality. He predicts an imminent bursting of the AI bubble and attributes much of the excitement to marketing hype.
Journalist Ed Zitron adds to Conover's argument by stating that the tech industry is focused on unsustainable growth at the expense of product quality, ultimately leading to potential disaster.
That's one thing I've always wondered about—how do they keep the lights on if they're expected to grow so fast, they never produce anything of substance. However, Zitron remains optimistic about the future of tech, thanks to young innovators interested in creating sustainable and useful products.
I'm all for AI if it can give me more time to write my specs. Why is no one making one that can wash and fold my laundry? Or automatically do my taxes? Time will tell what comes true, maybe a mix of both, but I do think what AI people have never understood is that the human imagination far surpasses anything we can do with tech, and tech will never be able to function without at least one human there to dream for it.
AI is a tool, but it's not one any great writer or director would need to put their work together, because our imaginations already do that for us.
AI reminds me a lot of the 3D movie an TV boom. It's cool to play with, but sometimes, you just want to sit back and be classically entertained. That keeps those ideas just as gimmicks, not real game-changers. If Hollywood allows filmmakers to make great movies and helps develop the next generation of voices, it will be totally fine, especially without AI.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
