My pleasure. Any time. Apologies for the slight delay in replying—it's been a busy few days!
Quite so, which is why the SAG strike may be trickier to resolve. AI is undeniably a useful tool, but actors need to be informed, have control over how their likeness is used, and be fairly compensated when it is.
Yep, and that’s what's possible now. Imagine where the technology will be in a few years! There’s also the bigger question of intellectual property being used to
train AI in the first place. I predict that there will be standoffs with numerous content sources. The BBC has already blocked ChatGPT from accessing its content. Others will follow suit. Copyright law is going to get even more complex—if AI uses an artist’s work to learn, and then generates images ‘inspired by’ that work, especially for commercial use, who owns the copyright and who gets paid? It’s a massive can of worms that’s only just been opened.
This is the reason why the writers dug in so deeply, and why the actors continue to do so. It’s a paradigm shift in our industry. If we don’t get protections in place now, the future will be bleak for a lot of people. From an entertainment perspective, ultimately the consumer loses—even basic CGI has taken over film and TV. Instead of being used as a tool to support and enhance a story, often it IS the story. Film, particularly, has suffered (I believe). Flashy CGI set pieces are being used to lazily replace quality narrative. As you say, it truly is a defining moment.
Virtual presenters are already being used in certain cases. I can see that's going to increase over time, but, I’d guess, mainly for factual delivery. Until AI has a personality, there’s a measure of protection. If/when GAI is attained, we’re done for!
I used to stay in a hotel when I was in Peterborough. The expenses came out of my pocket, so I stayed wherever was cheapest. It’s was fine during the pandemic, when I could get a room for £25/day, but once things started going back to ‘normal’ it became prohibitively expensive. During lockdown, when the hotels closed for everyone except key workers, Ideal put ‘Bunkabins’ in the car park (see picture below). I literally lived in a box for several months, with nowhere else to go when I wasn't on air. It was torturous! Talk about serving your time.
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Absolutely! He's a wonderful guy and we worked together often.
Peter is a talented actor. He was incredibly helpful when I was in Peterborough and had to record auditions. He filmed and read with me for several projects, including the role I landed in Sky’s COBRA.