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Everyone knows that this is the site that likes to give you more!
And that's the one in which you and you alone get to decide just what we'll be talking about.
Remember, no government, military force, intergalactic empire nor tech-bro billionaire can stifle your voice on this forum.*
Therefore, make sure to lodge your subject for debate in the comments section below, before the forces of government orthodoxy, military security, Silicon Valley and outer space put a stop to it, like they would if they only listened to the public or had the sense they were born with.
(*This claim may not be technically true. Always consult a lawyer before trusting legal advice from Steve Does Comics.)
AI animation has become stunningly lifelike so would you care if AI replaced real actors?
ReplyDeleteIs AI dangerous and out of control or will it bring "an age of abundance" as Elon Musk claims?
It's Phillip, here - plenty of Speak Your Brains are mine, recently. Someone else's idea, if it comes, should therefore have priority. Nevertheless, here goes...
ReplyDeleteWhat favourite sites/destinations of interest spring to mind? Can you name a few?
Here's a few of mine...
1.) One a school trip to Germany, I stayed at a village/hamlet called Mariaroth (?) In the distance, amongst dense forest, an interesting radio mast/transmitter was visible:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernmeldeturm_Koblenz#/media/File:Fernmeldeturm_Koblenz_2011.jpg
2.) The St.Nicolas tower, at La Rochelle, when viewed from a particular angle ( that isn't on the internet!) resembles Pontefract castle's keep, as painted by Dutch artist, Keirincx!
3.) Middleham castle ( interesting Anne Neville/Richard III ruins, amidst rolling N Yorkshire countryside):
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=d1654259742c7a2c&rlz=1C1TEUA_enGB467GB467&sxsrf=APpeQnvq-LtynWuyQHYFnOMZzzOyVhkpQg:1790702110378&udm=2&fbs=ABfTbFVyMZGZf1hfvX9uKjN_-G8c4u0nXx4bEIpwm1lnNH832cK-OlyrFp0q_lDSVqWSWpCnpnP4ky6xnUEVIDkxkfIzyX730Vz4CT1QSMXA1Naw71c0FRB4BU2eEZ045iRMp5vJ3x0udxukj6FG2rq5mMyHQ88Tt3RpAtiKn_6rjKUzHGxgHjF8P53hgwyByqVEgnPUO6KxB2GaBYupSPPrwDjzDKPaHg&q=middleham+castle&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihwr-ZpZSXAxXtW0EAHfPOCe8QtKgLegQIEhAB&biw=1093&bih=500&dpr=1.25#sv=CAMSURoyKhBlLVpPQThJTGk0YmhxUFlNMg5aT0E4SUxpNGJocVBZTToOTVJ1ckx4aW5XQTdibk0gBCoXCgFzEhBlLVpPQThJTGk0YmhxUFlNGAEwARgHIOul__4ESggQAhgBIAIoAQ
4.) On my childhood Malta holidays, in the old citadel of Rabat, which was always intensely quiet and still, there was a bookshop, where I picked up The Gods of Bhal-Sagoth ( R.E. Howard), plus anthology, 'Best Sci-fi Six', and some Frederik Pohl sci-fi books. This great bookshop, in an atmospheric location, was called the Meli bookshop (run by the Meli brothers! )
5.) Malta holidays over, returning to the airport, at the roadside, a picturesque, neo-gothic chapel peeped out of some greenery. I always wondered what it was. The internet obliges:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/addolorata-cemetery
WHAT ARE SOME INTERESTING SPOTS THAT STICK IN YOUR MEMORIES?
Phillip
Sorry, Colin - I pressed 'publish' before checking for other people's posts. Please ignore mine, folks, as I've done lots of these. Give the floor to Colin!
ReplyDeletePhillip
As regards actors, it's a funny old game. You get to know particular actors, sometimes associating them with childhood, then enjoy watching them, because they evoke better days. With all actors, however, a first watch/performance must "grab" you, or you wouldn't look forward to watching them again.
ReplyDeleteAI actors being sufficiently sophisticated, the same audience reaction could be elicited. It's certainly true of cartoon characters, like Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, The Space Sentinels, or 60s Spidey - so why not AI? A chilling prospect! There's Tilly Norwood already.
Phillip
Phillip - I will just list a couple of local places we visited where we were not expecting much but we're pleasantly surprised.
ReplyDeleteWe visited St Abbs a lovely little fishing village in the Scottish borders that was used as the location for New Asgard in the Avengers movies. The sign post was fun ("St Abbs twinned with New Asgard")but the village itself was just stunning.
https://www.itv.com/news/border/2019-05-13/scottish-borders-village-features-in-multi-million-pound-marvel-film
The Kelpies ( a Scottish fantasy water horse) in Falkirk in central Scotland really impressed us as well. They were massive
Colin - I'm not keen on Ai actors being used, I don't have an issue with Ai being used to help actors do stunts , or to bring back old actors like Humphrey Bogart for a bit part etc. but not separate actors created by Ai for a full movie. As to Ai being out of control, I think the jury is still out on this but it's a worry. No doubt there are great things it can do for health but personally I do worry but regardless of fears I think the genie is out of the bottle and it will go ahead barring a total meltdown. . What do you think ?
Oops forgot a link to the Kelpies
ReplyDeletehttps://spookyscotland.net/kelpies/
DeletePaul, Kelpie was the Scottish member of Marvel's British super-hero team, the (somewhat unfortunately named) Union.
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix9/kelpieunion.html
-sean
Paul - I know it's not the Local Hero village, but it looks similar, to some extent!
ReplyDeletePhillip
Phillip- I see that resemblance to the Local Hero village (Pennant village) there are lots of villages up here like that especially in the Fife area .
DeletePhillip- I meant to add they were stunning pics I was particularly impressed by Middleham castle.
ReplyDeleteColin - i actually am bothered by it unless it is cartoon-like. Also I suspect that AI will very soon disable portions of our infrastructure via Iran and/or Russia and/or North Korea. In a year or so…? There is a reason our governments are advising us to get a few weeks of food stockpiled. There is only a 3-day supply of food in the supply chain. And if the electricity stops there is no more gas pumping, stores with refrigeration…
ReplyDeletePhillip - i hope to have my ashes scattered in Miller Beach, Gary, Indiana and Schwabisch Hall, West Germany and Ussac, France which are all very charming in their way and i am emotionally tied to. I do you have a few particularly charming towns in mind and I will get back with you.
Damn typos! On a school trip, not "One a school trip!" And amidst, not "amongst" !
ReplyDeleteTo tease out/develop Colin's idea, there's two distinct "bits". Original AI actors ( like Tilly Norwood), and actors no longer with us, resurrected by AI. Regarding the latter, Gulacy already did that with Dietrich in MOKF (Shang Chi vs the Cat), and with Bogart (Natasha's CIA handler gone bad) in his take on The Black Widow. Admittedly, with Gulacy's reanimated actors, at least he gave them different names!
Joe - Our government provided similar advice on prepping ( I've been filling old plastic milk bottles with water.) Without a car, however, stocking up's a challenge. A loaf of bread, some milk, cereal, and something for lunch & dinner, and you can't carry that much else ( lots of tin cans, etc! ) It seems, however, that tins of corned beef (likewise SPAM/Pek), and canned potatoes are the sensible choice, being mashable together even without electricity or gas, for cooking. During my recent powercut, I used the emergency tin of corned beef I always keep. It's alright as a one-off, but would be too "rich", eating that much corned beef, in one meal, every day. Nevertheless, in an emergency, needs must... ( Incidentally, my car's currently out of action - again! - with a seemingly more serious - i.e. expensive! - problem! )
Joe - Thomas Hardy gave specific instructions for his body to be buried alongside his first wife, in a particular churchyard. After he died, his instructions were ignored, his ashes being put in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner, whilst Hardy's heart was buried alongside his wife!
Phillip
Given the state of modern culture, the worrying thing about AI actors is the inevitable endless stream of sequels like, say, The Maltese Falcon 2, Raquel Welch doing porn, the Beatles getting back together in pop videos, and Greta Garbo ads...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/sep/30/ai-greta-garbo-stars-again-ball-bearing-advert
Is that really worth all the damage to the water supply and climate that AI causes?
-sean
Colin -
ReplyDeleteNot especially bothered about using AI actors or AI reviving / rejuvenating dead or old actors, as I know I'd be unlikely to watch anything that featured them.
Also, that sort of thing is a fair way off, as the cost implications would be insane. I mean, they did Harrison Ford for that last Indiana Jones movie, but that was only for about 10 minutes, and it was ILM - they ain't cheap.
Philip -
The Natural History Museum in Kensington.
It's the most remarkable building - I could just wander round in awe of the architecture and atmosphere, regardless of the exhibits. And of course it has nostalgia value as my grandfather used to rake me there in the late 70s. Slightly less so now that they've finally closed down the Human Biology exhibit that opened in 1978, and remained untouched like a haunological time capsule until a few years back.
It does sleepover nights, but they look horrible. I would give anything to just wander around all night there on my own.
Faversham in Kent.
I grew up there, 1971-1978. We keep thinking of moving there but are too addicted to all the choices of living in close proximity to London. But I get the urge to visit a couple of times a year and just wander around.
The holiday cottage on Paxos we stayed in 2018 and 2023.
Just the most peaceful place on Earth, a virtually private beach [well, it is at dawn when you can go down and swim in the cool water with the hot sun on your face] and as many cats as you can handle. Cats on tap.
Totnes on a chilly winters afternoon.
The light as evening draws in is wonderful, and there's lots of little pubs and cafes to hide in. Also the woods just outside Staverton are lovely, if you walk from Staverton to Totnes.
*hauntological
DeleteMatthew - You've just recovered a memory of mine. An empty Majorca beach, with a deserted hotel, and dozens of cats! My brother's memory's better than mine, so I'll quiz him about it next weekend. I also loved the Natural History museum, as a tiny kid ( being a dinosaur nut.) I only visited once ( or twice? ), however. I only know Faversham from the Elizabethan play about the murder. It's ages since I've read it (?), though.
ReplyDeletePhillip
Phillip, seeing as Matthew brought up Kensington, I visited another site of interest there earlier this year, on the anniversary of the Battle of Blythe Road - the old Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Or, as it is now known, George's Cafe.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.atlasobscura.com/places/36-blythe-road
Yes, that's right - for the price of a cup of coffee anyone can hang around in the very building where WB Yeats defeated Aleister Crowley in magickal combat at the start of the 20th century. Surely the greatest occult battle of the modern aeon.
While there, contemplating the reverberations that still echo across the higher planes, for some reason my attention was drawn to a large, empty building directly across the road. On further investigation, this turned out to be the old Post Office Savings Bank where Michael Collins used to work while he lived in the heart of the imperial beast (just around the corner from the other end of the street in fact).
All part of the secret history of Irish London...
-sean
Sean - I heard Yeats just pushed The Great Beast down the stairs. Crowley had it coming, if you ask me!
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, a Crowley enthusiast, Israel Regardie, whose attentions the Beast shunned, is now gaining traction in UFO circles through the cover of his book, "The Middle Pillar" ( I remember it as "The Middle Finger", sadly.)
I'll have a look at that link!
Phillip
Apparently a push down the stairs was involved, Phillip.
DeleteBut that would just be the exoteric manifestation, on the earthly plane.
-sean
Indeed, Sean! (Hee, hee! )
ReplyDeleteAnd, exoteric manifestation coming to shove, a poet enraged shouldn't be taken lightly.
Not even by the Beast himself!
Phillip
OK, I hope I don’t sound like a pompous twat…
ReplyDeleteBut staring at the old Notre Dame church in Paris prior to the fire, for a solid hour after having just read Victor Hugo‘s “the hunchback”, was a profound experience.
Entering the Academy of Michelangelo in Florence after having just read “the agony and the ecstasy “over the previous couple days was a profound experience. When I was suddenly confronted with his “ 4 prisoners”… wow wow wow…. Inwas paralyzed for an hour.
Stumbling over Michelangelo’s “Pieta “in Saint peters in Rome… I knew absolutely nothing about it when I first saw it in n 1987 and I was mesmerized, completely mesmerized, for what seemed like a solid hour. I could not move. It is the definition of beauty.
Entering the town of Carentan in Normandy with my son one evening, Having just watched the “band of Brothers” episode where they assault this town, Was a profound experience. The street which we entered on was identical almost, to how it appeared in that episode. Cresting the hill and looking at the apartment building, indeed the exact window, where some fucking Nazi was firing away with his MG 42 in June 1944 shredding my fellow americans…. Wow wow wow… As Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi said, “I hate fucking Nazis. Especially Illinois fucking Nazis.”
Phillip, a memorable place I visited was the Welsh Folk Museum at St. Fagans in Cardiff. The museum is actually a huge open-air site which houses buildings from different periods in Welsh history - many of them are the original constructions which were transferred brick-by-brick to the museum site. I went at Christmastime and all the visitors received a free cup of mulled wine and the most delicious mince pie I've ever tasted - it had a chewy texture so I don't what they put in it. While there I also saw a demonstration of toffee being made.
ReplyDeleteI've also visited Caerphilly Castle which was very interesting but I was slightly disappointed to discover that much of the castle is a 19th-Century reconstruction rather than the original medieval.
But no such confusion about Castell Coch (the Red Castle) on the outskirts of Cardiff which was a 19th-Century "folly" designed to look like a European castle with turrets and pointed roofs. It looks quite dramatic when passing by on the motorway below!
I've become fascinated by the realism of AI animation and 100% AI films wouldn't bother me at all. Why is it "real" when Matt Damon pretends to be Odysseus but it's "fake" when an AI is supposed to be Odysseus - neither of them is really Odysseus! As for the dangers of AI - as Paul says, the genie is out of the bottle and AI can't be uninvented. There was a Radio 4 report the other day about Chinese data centres which are being built at a frantic pace so AI is coming whether we like it or not but I must admit I'm glad I'm 60 rather than 20.
My son is embracing AI. He was doing sales of data services for “Amazon Work Services.”
DeleteHe left just before his entire department of several dozen people was totally displaced with AI technology last year.
He has moved into business-to- customer (B to C vs. B to B) sales instead, which require a very high level of personal interaction and cannot easily be displaced by AI technology. He is only 28.
But this is not good. A simple example is the 4 million truck drivers in the United States. The capitalists are working aggressively to have self driving trucks which already exist on the roads to some degree. What exactly are these 4 million, unskilled, workers supposed to do now? Oh… I know… cut grass and lay hedges because we deported all the “mexicans.”
And that is one reason I despise capitalism and people like Trump and Musk. These people with tens of billion dollars, investing in technology for self driving trucks, but not one of them owns a trucking company or any particular business motivation to do this to be more efficacious … It is simply for profits… Making money from having money.
TO THE BARRICADES MES AMIS!!!
A LA LANTERN!
DeleteIt's not just that the likes of Elon Musk are enriching themselves, they're doing it by impoverishing the rest of us!
Who gave them the right to plagiarize all of human culture (generative AI being trained on old films, books, recordings and the rest...)?
They have legislation against computer hacking in the US, right? So how come no action is being taken against OpenAI and that lot, after their 'rogue' (yeah, right) AI agents broke into other companies, and Australian government records? And that's just what we know of.
No wonder these tech fascists act like there are no consequences.
-sean
Sean - you are alluding to a bery significant legal issue. Bery significant. “Who is liable if AI causes “damage” on its own?”
DeleteIf a company designs a defective car or builds a defective bridge and people are hurt or killed that company assumes the liabilities from court cases, damages, etc.
However, with the world of AI, where we are releasing autonomous, self acting software that the inventors and companies endlessly proclaim has the ability to act on its own… Who is responsible?
Who is responsible, Anon? Why not let a court decide?
DeleteOf course the AI biz - like any other - is going to deny responsiblity for its actions, but if a crime has taken place it seems to me that action should be taken against the people who supervised the tests, the companies that authorized them, or both.
They could then defend themselves on the basis that it was the machines what done it - in a place where the claim could be properly examined in public - and set a precedent. Or not, as the case may be.
-sean
Joe - Doing your (reading/viewing) research before visiting a destination pays dividends, as you've clearly explained. Visiting places ad hoc, I've made the mistake of not doing that, then overlooked important things right under my nose.
ReplyDeleteColin - I visited Caerphilly Castle (very impressive), maybe 25 years ago. It had sequential panels, with lots of Welsh/medieval history, in chronological order, which was good. i photographed the panels, for future reference (no internet, back then), but had misloaded my film (no digital camera, either), so none of it came out!
I haven't visited Castell Coch (with its witch's hat roof! )
Phillip
Phillip, Castell Coch actually has THREE witch's hat roofs. The castle appeared in a Hollywood movie called (I think) The Black Shield Of Falworth - anyway whatever the name, the film's been on TV and I saw Castell Coch.
ReplyDeleteOoh, one more.
ReplyDeleteWe went to Portland, Oregon in 2019.
We flew into Seattle and decided to stay there for a couple of days for a look around. It was a bit dull. It was a bit like going on holiday to Leeds.
We were having dinner and my wife remembered a colleague had told her the locations for Twin Peaks were pretty nearby. So there and then we looked online and reserved a room on special offer at the Salish Lodge in North Bend - the actual hotel that was used for exteriors. And the next morning we were able to take two buses - not coaches or Greyhounds, actual normal buses for about $6! - up to North Bend.
From the hotel, we were able to walk to all the locations from the show: the RR diner, the police station [from which you can see the now-derelict saw mill], the bridge Ronnette Pulaski crossed over, the Twin Peaks sign. And because we don't drive, we were able to soak up all the moodiness of the area.
It's hard to put into words. It was very strange seeing the locations in the 'flesh' after 30 years, and so soon after TP:The Return had aired. But more than that, you can definitely feel why they were chosen in the first place. The whole area has a very distinct atmosphere - the huge looming mountains and forests and wide open spaces. Very very memorable and very odd. I would love to go back.
Matthew - As a child hearing Perry Como sing, "The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle", I didn't realize that song was dripping with irony!
ReplyDeleteI never watched Twin Peaks. A guy I knew was raving about the show, after it had already been going for a while, but when I inquired further, he declared: "You've no chance of making sense of it now!" So, I didn't bother.
I only know stuff like, "It's the best damn ( insert foodstuff )I've ever tasted in my life!"
Phillip
I wouldn't advise trying to get into it now. The pilot is brilliant, one of the best things David Lynch ever did, but the actual series is very patchy and very much of its time.
DeleteI really liked The Return in 2017, but it's not for everyone!
Seattle… been there. Nice with the water and woods and hills. Cold, grey, drizzly from October through April. Not especially warm and sunny in Summer either.
ReplyDeletePhillip - get some beans in your rotation of canned backup goods! You will appreciate the fiber. And canned fruit. This from a guy who while in the military lived on dehydrated pork , dehydrated ground beef, dehydrated potatoes, dehydrated strawberries… for a few weeks. didnt shit for a month and a day. Also keep lots of water on hand.
ReplyDeleteJoe - They're now on my list!
ReplyDeleteRegarding Seattle, I always associate it with the murky, atmospheric skies, the helicopter landing, in the 'Band of Brothers' Highlander episode, when McLeod prevents the assassination of Victor Paulus (17:02 onwards...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNLo0U4KM2o
Now, however, I realize the tower in the background isn't Seattle's Space Needle, but Vancouver's 'Lookout' tower ( Vancouver representing the fictitious city of 'Seacouver! )
Phillip
To be fair to Seattle, the Space Needle was amazing and the Chihuly exhibit right next door was also fantastic. Nice parks too.
ReplyDeleteRIP Esther Rantzen.
ReplyDelete