Five Song Friday: Here Come the Chaos Monkey
This Week: Tummy Party, Going Dutch and Swamp Legends
Mark my words, things are about to get super weird.
Artificial intelligence has made amazing leaps in the last year and really smart people are losing their minds about the machine learning creative power that has been let loose upon the world.
When AI first showed up at the mainstream creative culture party, people were intrigued.
Artists, writers and designers saw it as a parlor trick, a gimmick. A funny dancing robot monkey that looked almost like the real deal.
But then people realized that this funny dancing robot monkey was wearing a vest packed with explosives.
Oh sure, he’ll dance and do tricks for you now. But the big finish is him blowing up EVERYTHING.
While we’ve been paranoid about robots wising up and taking control by brute force like in The Matrix or Terminator, we missed the real danger: mass entertainment.
It’s much easier for machines to learn how to make dumb stuff that makes us happy and keep doing it until humans become drooling lumps of goo BEGGING the AI Overlords for one more season of Steampunk Star Wars or Anime Game of Thrones.
It’s only a matter of time.
Right now, there are AI platforms that can turn your ridiculous words into stunning images.
You type it… wait about a minute… and then you SEE it.
As a lazy artist, AI is my dream come true. It saves me money on ink and paper. It spares me the frustration of hitting the limit of my artistic abilities.
If I want to see what the poster for Meatball Sandwich: The Movie looks like, all I need to do is ask.
But drawing is only my hobby. I might not be so giddy if illustration or photography paid my bills.
Big stars are worried too.
Deep fake technology is flooding social media with digital doppelgangers of Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves. It’s getting harder to tell who’s real and who’s Memorex. And some kind of deal took place that resulted in a young Bruce Willis appearing in a Russian communications company.
But Hollywood has gone all-in on the technology.
If you’ve seen the trailer for the next Indiana Jones movie, there’s a good bit of digital recycling going on for the Harrison Ford flashbacks. Critics are falling all over themselves for the 100% digital big-screen spectacle of Avatar: The Way of Water.
And for the last 10 years, we’ve all been fooled by an incredibly lifelike Nicole Kidman.
So what happens next?
Honestly, it’s going to be shit show of epic proportions. Maybe we’ll eventually figure it all out, but as we enter mainstream AI’s awkward teen years? Things are going to get messy.
The way machines learn how to make images is by consuming all the drawings, paintings and photographs ever put online.
The way they learn how to write is by READING THE INTERNET. All of it.
This is the way most of learn how to make art, but on a much smaller scale. Writers start writing like their favorite authors. Cartoonists copy drawings from comics. Musicians cover songs by their favorite artists.
But machines learn and create much faster than people. And they don’t waste time binge-watching, eating food or sleeping.
Some of what they produce is still rough. They have a hard time illustrating words and drawing hands and AI-generated text to video is not yet ready for prime time.
But it won’t be long before they get the hang of mixing moving images, words, sounds and music.
One day soon, we’re going to get served up a piece of delicious-looking entertainment product that was created completely by AI. Maybe it will feel a little off. Maybe it will leave a funny, slightly uncanny taste in our mouths.
But if that content has lasers, dinosaurs, sharks, boobs, Jason Momoa and explosions?
Nobody is going to care.
Let’s be careful out there.
Sincerely,
DJ CrankyPete
Five Song Friday 042
“Way You Walk” - Papas Fritas
This Boston indie rock band broke up back in 2000.
But the foursome reformed again in 2011 for a few festivals and hometown gigs and one REALLY good reason. Maybe the BEST reason I’ve ever heard.
They reunited to perform on Yo Gabba Gabba!
If you’re not familiar, Google it.
If you ARE familiar, you feel me.
“The Comb” - The Waitresses
Here’s a nice little ditty from the Akron, Ohio band most famous for the New Wave classics, “I Know What Boys Like” and “Christmas Wrapping.” The group only made it to 1984 and sadly, lead singer Patty Donahue only made it to 40. Lung cancer. Huge bummer.
I’m just going to stop here and let you contemplate your own mortality.
“Tomboy” - Bettie Serveert
Here’s a 1992 gem from the Dutch band that never really rose above their underground station. Let me tell you three quick things about Bettie Serveert.
The name translates to “Bettie Serves,” which they took from the name of a book written by a Dutch tennis player named Betty who played in Wimbeldon in the 1970s. That fact is now in your head. You’re welcome.
Janeane Garofalo liked them a lot, a hipster endorsement that carried serious weight back in 1992, especially because Garofalo hated just about everything else.
I first met this song on the soundtrack for Amateur, a delightful indie film by Hal Hartley. If you don’t know Hal’s films, they are the equivalent of late 20th century indie film bouillon cubes. Packed with angst and cool and deadpan dialogue that’s drier than dirt. Not for everybody, but just right for somebody.
“Street People” - Bobby Charles
I’m going to go ahead and get mad on behalf of Bobby Charles. The man was a pioneer of Louisiana swamp pop. A giant of cajun music. Legends like Bill Haley, Fats Domino, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson have performed his songs.
But in 1976, when The Band invited him to play alongside Dr. John during filming of The Last Waltz, Bobby didn’t make the final cut. He got snipped by Scorsese. Yeah, he was on stage during the finale of “I Shall Be Released,” but some jerk was standing in front of him.
I’m not saying a snub like that haunts a man until his final days, but the world didn’t see much of Bobby C after that. Some say he headed deep into gator country where he learned to live harmoniously with a pack of wild crocodiles and survive off the land. Others say his story will be revealed in an upcoming documentary.
I choose to believe the crocodile stuff.
“Get Inspired” - Genesis Owusu
Now that we’ve thoroughly covered songs from the past, here’s a snappy li’l song from right freaking now by Ghanaian/Australian rapper Genesis Owusu.
You should know that there is a bit of salty language in the lyrics. But I assure you that it serves a vital artistic purpose.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube Music
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!
“Virtually every writer I know would rather be a musician.” - Kurt Vonnegut