Wired: The Creators of "Hacks" Really, Really, REALLY Hate AI (and they talk about the "spreading authoritarian regime")

[highplainsdem]

This is a 42-minute podcast, but this page has both the link for listening and the transcript:

https://www.wired.com/story/the-big-interview-podcast-hacks-cocreators-paul-w-downs-lucia-aniello/

Wikipedia on Hacks, if you're completely unfamiliar with it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacks .

I don't get HBO Max, haven't watched the show, but have been hearing about it and watching clips and applauding Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder winning awards.

I enjoyed reading what two of the shows' three creators had to say about the show and about society in general (including that bright college students who want to become doctors and nurses should get that medical education for free).

What caught my attention initially was the headline about their hatred of AI.

From the intro about the podcast:

If you’re a WIRED reader who uses AI in any creative context, I’d suggest staying far, far away from anyone involved in the TV show Hacks. In an interview earlier this year, actor Hannah Einbinder (who plays young comedy writer Ava Daniels on the show) described AI creators as “losers,” “not artists,” and “not special.”

The show’s cocreators couldn’t agree more. In a wide-ranging conversation for The Big Interview ahead of the Hacks series finale on HBO Max, Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello were resolute about the value of human creativity—and what can be lost when AI enters the picture.

-snip-

But it's about so much more, including censorship and Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. Some of what Lucia Aniello said:

Most often, comedians are the people speaking truth to power. So of course the first people they're clamping down on are the people who are saying, "Hey, this is really bad. This administration is not great. People can't live. This is really bad."

And because comedians are able to get that message across the most effectively, naturally, that's the first group of people that they're going after in terms of free speech.

And then Paul Downs adds, "And journalists."

The interview was done by Wired editor Katie Drummond, who's been very outspoken on the importance of covering politics in a tech magazine.See what she wrote two years ago:

https://www.wired.com/story/why-and-how-wired-is-covering-politics/

And they endorsed Harris:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219651243

[Cheezoholic]

1. IMO if you're letting AI do your work for you, you suck. But if you USE AI to do your work, good on you ;) n/t

[Marie Marie]

2. Love Hacks.. Jean Smart is excellent in her role. Kudos to the stars and creators for speaking out against AI