The Utter Contradiction Of AI And Deep Fake In Entertainment

What does it mean when actors say they do not want their “acting” to be replaced by AI generated versions of themselves? Several things come together to elicit my comment on this — the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the “Joan Is Awful” episode of Black Mirror’s current season on Netflix and finally my own personal interactions with the actors I hired for the movie I produced.

If you have not seen “Joan Is Awful”, please take a gander. The premise of instantly produced and streamed entertainment based on ongoing events in a real life person’s life using AI generated acting is very entertaining. To hear about which “fictive level” one is in and that shows work better when showcasing the sordid rather than the happy part of the person’s life are brilliantly funny. It does break down when you consider how fictive levels suddenly merge. I definitely wonder if Salma Hayek, Annie Murphy and all the other actors in it are currently on strike … after having brought this piece to us. Ok ok fine … that was fiction.

Some time back, when I hired actors to play the characters in my movie, I was struck at first with how earnestly they asked to be cast in those roles and later by how convincingly they acted the parts. Then I spent months trying to decide whether their initial earnestness was acting or real. Later, I was shocked when on…