For a the past few years, I had wondered why videogames, movies, and TV shows nowadays feel so… Bland. Meaningless. Soulless. Corporate. Like, I know they ARE corporate, but these industries have all been dominated by gigantic corporations for my entire life. What changed recently? Am I just getting old and curmudgeonly and preferring content that was made back when I was younger?
Then I was watching DoorMonster talk about some show (I could be wrong, but I think it was the video about how Arcane had a great Season 1 that was largely ruined by Season 2) where they kept joking about not accusing them of using AI to write things.
Then it clicked. The Writer’s Strike from May-September 2023. On paper, the Writer’s Guild secured restrictions on the use of AI. And I can’t point to anything specific and say “that was clearly written by AI”. But I can say that for the past few years everything put out by pretty much every company has felt very… “Meh”. Nothing new has grabbed me and said “wow I need to watch/play that”. Could be a coincidence, but I also have to wonder whether AI tools involved in writing and visuals have cost us something intangible that I can still feel.
For Hollywood, I think it’s more about the financialization. Investors don’t want to do risky productions, so we only get the decade old "IP"s rehashed for the thousandth time, rather than independent art experiments.
I see it as eating a sandwich mades by a loved one, vs one you find at a gas station made by some machine with fillers and packed with sugars.
one is made with love, and you can sense it. mustard in a smile on the bread, meats and crunchy lettuce layered properly.
the other is because you essentially have no choice, you know it takes like crap, is stupidly overpriced and could potentially make you sick but you need it to keep driving to get home from the work trip to see your loved one who makes the best sandwiches ever.
To continue the sandwich analogy, it’s also, like…
You eat the sandwich made by your loved one, and not only is it everything you asked for, but they also threw in some good salami and a dash of balsamic vinegar that you never thought to even ask for in the first place, because they know your tastes and thought you’d like it. You now have a new favorite sandwich.
Versus the gas station sandwich, which is fine, but only just meets the bare minimum qualifications to be a sandwich. They used to load it up with cheap cuts of meat, which at least made it good value for the price, but lately they put in maybe a single slice of ham or two, a single sad piece of rubbery cheese, and condiments are all sold extra. And the price of the sandwich itself, smaller and cheaper than ever, has only gone up.
For a the past few years, I had wondered why videogames, movies, and TV shows nowadays feel so… Bland. Meaningless. Soulless. Corporate. Like, I know they ARE corporate, but these industries have all been dominated by gigantic corporations for my entire life. What changed recently? Am I just getting old and curmudgeonly and preferring content that was made back when I was younger?
Then I was watching DoorMonster talk about some show (I could be wrong, but I think it was the video about how Arcane had a great Season 1 that was largely ruined by Season 2) where they kept joking about not accusing them of using AI to write things.
Then it clicked. The Writer’s Strike from May-September 2023. On paper, the Writer’s Guild secured restrictions on the use of AI. And I can’t point to anything specific and say “that was clearly written by AI”. But I can say that for the past few years everything put out by pretty much every company has felt very… “Meh”. Nothing new has grabbed me and said “wow I need to watch/play that”. Could be a coincidence, but I also have to wonder whether AI tools involved in writing and visuals have cost us something intangible that I can still feel.
For Hollywood, I think it’s more about the financialization. Investors don’t want to do risky productions, so we only get the decade old "IP"s rehashed for the thousandth time, rather than independent art experiments.
I see it as eating a sandwich mades by a loved one, vs one you find at a gas station made by some machine with fillers and packed with sugars.
one is made with love, and you can sense it. mustard in a smile on the bread, meats and crunchy lettuce layered properly.
the other is because you essentially have no choice, you know it takes like crap, is stupidly overpriced and could potentially make you sick but you need it to keep driving to get home from the work trip to see your loved one who makes the best sandwiches ever.
That’s being mean to gas station sandwiches, but otherwise I agree
To continue the sandwich analogy, it’s also, like…
You eat the sandwich made by your loved one, and not only is it everything you asked for, but they also threw in some good salami and a dash of balsamic vinegar that you never thought to even ask for in the first place, because they know your tastes and thought you’d like it. You now have a new favorite sandwich.
Versus the gas station sandwich, which is fine, but only just meets the bare minimum qualifications to be a sandwich. They used to load it up with cheap cuts of meat, which at least made it good value for the price, but lately they put in maybe a single slice of ham or two, a single sad piece of rubbery cheese, and condiments are all sold extra. And the price of the sandwich itself, smaller and cheaper than ever, has only gone up.