PLASTICS: What We Lose When Reality Isn't Important

So many things are shot on various kinds of virtual sets that actors and directors less frequently get to fully steep in a sense of place. That doesn’t mean modern creative teams can’t do good work; they clearly can. But over time, I think there’s something eroded in the foundations of culture every time a prop or a throne room gets inserted electronically by work done in a quiet computer lab isolated from the living, breathing crew. 

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THE RECURSIVE PROBLEM WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

I’m not opposed to modernity, or the soul of a new machine. I fully embrace the inevitable process where innovation forces new ways of working that are destined to replace older modes. My specific concern is that the embrace of AI’s siren promise for innovation seems uncaring about its implications while simultaneously acting as a transformational agent. 

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THE PROBLEM WITH BIG DATA

If you’re standing in a meadow, rays of sun illuminating blossoms and birds alike, you might consider fully immersing yourself in that singular moment rather than millions of others like it. The bottomless pit of data asking you to tithe one more bit cares not a whit for what you see, what you smell, what you feel when the rising afternoon breeze kisses your skin.

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