Justine Bateman on AI. Also the AI "Watermelon Art" case study (updated 8.10.23)

 Actor, Director, Producer (and former SAG board member) Justine Bateman has a UCLA degree in computer science and digital media management as well as her industry credentials. She breaks down some of the artist concerns with AI in this July 2023 USA Today interview on You Tube.

And this twitter thread by her shared on social media.

UPDATE 8.10.23 Here is an Aug 2023 article by Bateman

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hollywood-ceos-greed-will-burn-the-movie-biz-down?fbclid=

excerpt: "The relationships with writers, directors, actors, and crew members. The streamers forgot that they’re visitors here, and soon after arriving, they “pivoted” and shucked the let-the-artists-have-full-creative-reign position with which they began. The studios then started chasing the streamers’ business model and lost billions of dollars doing it. And now, both the studios and the streamers think they can win against encroaching generative AI video tech companies—and I’m telling you these GAI companies are going to eat their lunch.

And they’ll do this primarily by feeding in 100 years of films and TV series into GAI models, in order to deliver spoonfuls of Frankenstein-like characters, tones, and stories. Everything from Alfred Hitchcock’s films to M*A*S*H episodes to Citizen Kane. I personally feel a very strong responsibility to these past writers, directors, actors, and crews. I owe them more than I could ever return. They have fed me emotionally, creatively, and professionally. Not only has much of this work been instrumental to my own filmmaking (Antonioni and Fellini, I’m looking at you), but it is because of these past professionals’ sacrifices that any of us have union benefits at all.

All of this greed and competition by the studios and streamers will crater this industry and will destroy a century-old business. And if that happens, these CEOs will go down in history as the ones who, when they had the football—passed down from decade to decade—not only lost the game, but they burned down the entire stadium."The degenerative slide of the film business took the following path: The studios forgot their own competitive advantage of having 

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AI "Watermelon Art" Case Study

We all need to be on the lookout for AI images as they are circulated online. For now, there are clues like excessive digits on hands of figures (or paws of animals) that betray AI use. These are details our human eyes recognize as "wonky." AI art as a tool is here to stay. It needs to be shared with transparency. Too often, AI images are posted without any credit/source... or there is an ambiguous attribution like for these recent images: 

They were shared as "carved watermelon art".. but called out in the comments threads by real artists who carve watermelons. When they asked for the name of the artist, there was no reply. The "watermelon rat" above has over 1 million views, 27 thousand comments, and 146 thousand shares on Facebook. Clearly it's a captivating image. But it's also adding to the confusion. Thousands of people "liked" these images and congratulated the artist on their work. But there are comments that also call out the use of AI. Real creative work has value. If you value it. Protect it.

When you see AI images on social media .... be proactive. Push for awareness. Protect creative rights. Here's a comment to adapt or use...

"This AI generated image was built from a dataset made possible by images stolen from artists and creators. Their work was used without permission, credit, or compensation. We all have a responsibility to be aware about what we share. Expect transparency about AI images. Be discerning. Not deceived. #SupportHumanArtists"