AI videos are getting very good. How do we detect their trickery?

[Gary C]

That comes as news to me. Reality TV always seemed so contrived that it had to be deliberately scripted:
...

I think. I don't know. I've never seen even one episode of any of the programs mentioned in any of those articles apart from /Top Gear/ and /Bullshit!/ who won some awards - but are they even "reality TV" anyway?

Well there are clearly segments of the population who find the genre unwatchable, those who think themselves 'in on the joke' and watch it only to criticize and ridicule the farce being presented and an unfortunate group who takes them at face value. Opinions vary as to the proportions of each group in the contemporary TV audience.

The real distinguishing features are in my mind:

• Non-union non-actors appear in all the major roles.
• Low production values
• No union screenwriters

Any character can be written off at any time leaving them with no bargaining power whatsoever. That keeps cost to a minimum. Most could be replaced by AI with little to no loss in 'quality'. I'm quite certain that the production companies behind these efforts are actively exploring the possibilities of AI and the last big strike in Hollywood tells me that people in the industry are just as concerned.

Random thought: How long before a dispute over compensation for a performance in a completed film is circumvented by having an AI editor simply delete the plaintiff from the work?

 

[FatPhil]

I'm saying that if it isn't a human being making sounds with their body and/or instruments, it isn't a live performance or a live concert. Even though it may be purported to be one!

Coachella is Burning Man with some more music. It shouldn't be confused with festivals where people go for no other reason than to hear bands perform live. And there are a lot of those, big and small. A couple of weeks ago, my band played a local one and each stage was on a municipal softball field. And the bands were good!

You're not doing a very good job of avoiding the No True Scotsman fallacy there.

The market has decided that Coachella is what they think of as live music, and when trying to understand directions in mass entertainment, that's *all* that matters. It's even codified in the ultimate repository of all human knowledge:

Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music.

-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coachella_Valley_Music_and_Arts_Festival

Unfortunately for those who only like salt on their porridge, it is actually a scotsman.

 

[JMartJr]

And there should be theatre [1] work to hone those acting skills as/if the movie industry contracts.

There is a good deal of overlap in the artistic skills, but the techniques involved in doing a show all the way through in one go while making sure the folks in the balcony can hear you and read your body language are not the same as those needed to shoot in minute-long chunks, then do numerous retakes and then wait while they set up lights and camera for a different angle and doing the same thing again and doing it all out of order, playing to a sensitive microphone and a camera sometimes just a few feet away... its a different world! Even now when they use microphones for many stage shows... which I hate, learn to project like we did, you whippersnappers!

[1] We spell it the right way here!

So do we... in the biz!