#ai writer for film free

[aiwriterfilm11]

Improve Your Scriptwriting Efficiency with AI Writer for Film

In the ever-evolving landscape of filmmaking, technology continues to shape the creative process, introducing innovative tools that revolutionize storytelling. Among these tools stands the AI Writer for Film— a digital artisan’s assistant that augments the creative journey of filmmakers, offering a blend of efficiency, creativity, and ingenuity. In this essay, we delve into the profound impact of AI Writers on the world of film, exploring their capabilities, challenges, and the symbiotic relationship they foster between human imagination and artificial intelligence. At its core, an AI Writer for film is a sophisticated algorithm trained on vast datasets of screenplays, film scripts, and storytelling principles. Leveraging natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning techniques, these AI systems analyze patterns, tropes, and narrative structures to generate compelling storylines, dialogues, and character arcs. By understanding the nuances of storytelling, AI Writers assist filmmakers in brainstorming ideas, refining plot points, and overcoming creative blocks. One of the most remarkable features of AI Writers is their ability to adapt to diverse genres, styles, and audience preferences. Whether it’s crafting a gripping thriller, a heartwarming romance, or a mind-bending science fiction epic, AI Writers excel in tailoring narratives to meet the unique demands of each project. Moreover, they offer valuable insights into market trends and audience engagement metrics, enabling filmmakers to make data-driven decisions and maximize the commercial viability of their films. However, the integration of AI Writers into the filmmaking process is not without its challenges. Critics often raise concerns about the authenticity and originality of AI-generated content, fearing a homogenization of storytelling and a dilution of human creativity. While AI can mimic established patterns and conventions, it may struggle to capture the ineffable essence of human experience — the subtleties of emotion, the complexities of interpersonal relationships, and the richness of cultural context. Thus, filmmakers must strike a delicate balance between harnessing AI’s capabilities and preserving the distinctiveness of their artistic vision. Furthermore, ethical considerations loom large in the realm of AI-assisted creativity. Questions about intellectual property rights, authorship attribution, and algorithmic bias demand careful deliberation. As AI becomes increasingly proficient at generating content, the boundaries between human-authored and AI-generated works blur, prompting a reevaluation of traditional notions of authorship and creativity ownership. Filmmakers must navigate this ethical terrain with prudence, ensuring transparency, accountability, and respect for creative contributions, both human and machine. Despite these challenges, the collaboration between human filmmakers and AI Writers holds immense promise for the future of cinema. By harnessing the complementary strengths of human intuition and machine intelligence, filmmakers can unlock new realms of storytelling possibilities, pushing the boundaries of imagination and innovation. AI Writers serve not as substitutes for human creativity, but as catalysts for inspiration, companions in the creative journey, and champions of storytelling diversity. In conclusion, the emergence of AI Writers marks a transformative chapter in the evolution of filmmaking — an era defined by the fusion of artistry and artificial intelligence. As filmmakers embrace these technological marvels with caution and creativity, they pave the way for a cinematic landscape that is richer, more inclusive, and more vibrant than ever before. In the tapestry of storytelling, AI Writers emerge as indispensable collaborators, weaving threads of innovation into the fabric of cinematic imagination.

#ai writer for film #ai writer for film free #online ai writer for film #best ai writer for film

[film-editor]

Transform Your Film Editing Process with AI Blog Writer

Film editing is a nuanced and intricate process that can make or break the success of a film. It's the art of selecting, arranging, and manipulating raw footage to create a cohesive and compelling narrative. With the advent of technology, the Film Editor AI Blog Writer emerges as a transformative tool, offering filmmakers innovative ways to streamline their editing process and unlock new creative possibilities.

At its core, the Film Editor AI Blog Writer serves as a virtual assistant, providing filmmakers with a wealth of resources and insights to enhance their editing process. Through its curated content, the AI Blog Writer explores a wide range of topics related to film editing, from the fundamentals of editing theory to advanced techniques and emerging trends. Whether it's learning about the principles of continuity editing, exploring the psychology of editing, or mastering the technical aspects of editing software, the AI Blog Writer equips filmmakers with the knowledge and tools they need to elevate their editing skills.

One of the primary ways in which the AI Blog Writer transforms the editing process is by offering practical advice and tutorials to help filmmakers navigate the technical complexities of editing software. From software recommendations to workflow optimization tips, the AI Blog Writer provides filmmakers with step-by-step guidance to streamline their editing process and improve efficiency. By demystifying the technical aspects of editing, the AI Blog Writer empowers filmmakers to focus on storytelling and creativity without being hindered by technical hurdles.

Moreover, the AI Blog Writer leverages the power of artificial intelligence to offer personalized recommendations and insights tailored to the specific needs and interests of each filmmaker. Through its advanced algorithms, the AI Blog Writer analyzes user preferences, viewing habits, and editing styles to deliver customized content that resonates with filmmakers on a deeper level. Whether it's recommending articles, tutorials, or case studies based on a filmmaker's specific interests and skill level, the AI Blog Writer ensures that filmmakers have access to the most relevant and impactful resources to enhance their editing process.

In addition to its focus on technical proficiency, the AI Blog Writer also encourages filmmakers to explore new creative possibilities and push the boundaries of their craft. By showcasing innovative editing techniques, emerging trends, and avant-garde approaches to filmmaking, the AI Blog Writer inspires filmmakers to think outside the box and experiment with new ways of storytelling. Whether it's exploring the possibilities of non-linear storytelling, experimenting with visual effects, or embracing unconventional editing styles, the AI Blog Writer encourages filmmakers to break free from traditional norms and explore new avenues of expression.

Furthermore, the AI Blog Writer fosters a sense of community and collaboration among filmmakers, providing a platform for networking, sharing ideas, and seeking feedback. Through its interactive features such as forums, comment sections, and peer-to-peer networking, the AI Blog Writer facilitates meaningful connections and encourages filmmakers to learn from one another, exchange insights, and support each other's creative endeavors. By fostering a sense of camaraderie and collaboration, the AI Blog Writer enriches the editing process and creates a vibrant community of passionate storytellers.

In conclusion, the Film Editor AI Blog Writer offers filmmakers a transformative tool to streamline their editing process, unlock new creative possibilities, and connect with a global community of peers. By providing practical advice, personalized recommendations, and inspiring insights, the AI Blog Writer empowers filmmakers to elevate their editing skills and push the boundaries of their craft. As technology continues to evolve and shape the future of filmmaking, tools like the AI Blog Writer stand as a testament to the transformative power of AI to enrich and enhance the creative process.

#film-editor ai blog writer #film-editor ai blog writer free #online film-editor ai blog writer #best film-editor ai blog writer

[mckitterick]

The End Is Near: "News" organizations using AI to create content, firing human writers

source: X

source: X

source: X

an example "story" now comes with this warning:

A new byline showed up Wednesday on io9: “Gizmodo Bot.” The site’s editorial staff had no input or advance notice of the new AI-generator, snuck in by parent company G/O Media.

G/O Media’s AI-generated articles are riddled with errors and outdated information, and block reader comments.

“As you may have seen today, an AI-generated article appeared on io9,” James Whitbrook, deputy editor at io9 and Gizmodo, tweeted. “I was informed approximately 10 minutes beforehand, and no one at io9 played a part in its editing or publication.”

Whitbrook sent a statement to G/O Media along with “a lengthy list of corrections.” In part, his statement said, “The article published on io9 today rejects the very standards this team holds itself to on a daily basis as critics and as reporters. It is shoddily written, it is riddled with basic errors; in closing the comments section off, it denies our readers, the lifeblood of this network, the chance to publicly hold us accountable, and to call this work exactly what it is: embarrassing, unpublishable, disrespectful of both the audience and the people who work here, and a blow to our authority and integrity.”

He continued, “It is shameful that this work has been put to our audience and to our peers in the industry as a window to G/O’s future, and it is shameful that we as a team have had to spend an egregious amount of time away from our actual work to make it clear to you the unacceptable errors made in publishing this piece.”

According to the Gizmodo Media Group Union, affiliated with WGA East, the AI effort has “been pushed by” G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller, recently hired editorial director Merrill Brown, and deputy editorial director Lea Goldman.

In 2019, Spanfeller and private-equity firm Great Hill Partners acquired Gizmodo Media Group (previously Gawker Media) and The Onion.

The Writers Guild of America issued a blistering condemnation of G/O Media’s use of artificial intelligence to generate content.

“These AI-generated posts are only the beginning. Such articles represent an existential threat to journalism. Our members are professionally harmed by G/O Media’s supposed ‘test’ of AI-generated articles.”

WGA added, “But this fight is not only about members in online media. This is the same fight happening in broadcast newsrooms throughout our union. This is the same fight our film, television, and streaming colleagues are waging against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in their strike.”

The union, in its statement, said it “demands an immediate end of AI-generated articles on G/O Media sites,” which include The A.V. Club, Deadspin, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Kotaku, The Onion, Quartz, The Root, and The Takeout.

but wait, there's more:

Just weeks after news broke that tech site CNET was secretly using artificial intelligence to produce articles, the company is doing extensive layoffs that include several longtime employees, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. The layoffs total 10 percent of the public masthead.

*

Greedy corporate sleazeballs using artificial intelligence are replacing humans with cost-free machines to barf out garbage content.

This is what end-stage capitalism looks like: An ouroborus of machines feeding machines in a downward spiral, with no room for humans between the teeth of their hungry gears.

Anyone who cares about human life, let alone wants to be a writer, should be getting out the EMP tools and burning down capitalist infrastructure right now before it's too late.

#artificial intelligence #journalism #writing #disasters #the end times #late stage capitalism

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Will never understand the use or appeal of character ai

like genuine question... can you not just imagine that?

like within your mind's eye?

In terms of aphantasia I can understand, but aphantasia effects external material too, like not being able to visualize fanfiction or ai writing either. As they completely lack a minds eye with any kind of literature.

So like, that aside - can you genuinely not imagine it yourself?

Is it that difficult? To just sit there and imagine it?

Why must you resort to a machine in order to do that?

They can say comforting words-

Okay, but can you imagine them saying comforting words without the assistance of an AI? Yes? So - What's the problem?

Why take advantage of systems you know infringe on and endanger many people and careers, when you can literally just sit there and do nothing and get the same experience

By imagining it.

Imagining things and daydreaming deliberately is not a bad thing or inferior to works feed to you. In fact, they can have even more of an impact as they are personalized to you.

If your imagination or creativity is not strong enough and you are aware of that - even more reason to actively try to strengthen it.

Imagination of nonexistent scenarios contribute directly to the ability of forethought and critical thinking. The more you go out of your way to imagine things, the more you'll see possibilities and solutions in real life you wouldn't have before.

The more you are able to visualize things without assistance, you become more able to practice compassion and empathy.

Because you don't need to be shown/live something directly to understand or put yourself in said situation.

Ones imagination is a very vital thing, not just to ones creativity - but to their wellbeing, critical thinking, and memory.

You are better off just imagining it, truly.

Instead of restoring to the convenient option of using technologies that you know can harm people IN THE NOW.

Like - yes, you wanna hear Hobie say 'I love you'. - Close your eyes and imagine it bro.

Free and you can do it anywhere. As far as we know we're the only mammals on Earth capable of this gift.

You don't need to use AI character voices that are actively putting voice actors out of their jobs.

You DON'T NEED character ai chat bots that write fanfic for you when writers are STILL STRIKING because large studios want to use the SAME technology you're using for the SAME purpose.

The more you interact with these bots and technology, the smarter and more advanced they become. They learn with every interaction. The more you use them, the more dangerous they become.

I work in the film industry. We're still lights out, and it's getting worse.

JUST IMAGINE IT.

This post may sound preachy, but just try it once. Turn off everything and go somewhere and find the perfect song and sit there and do nothing but imagine the character. Complete focus on your fantasy.

IT'S FUN

For the sake of screenwriters and fanfic writers and voice actors and fan artists and everything else

JUST IMAGINE IT.

#IT'S REALLY REALLY FUN I PROMISE #AND DOING NOTHING LITERALLY HELPS THE CAUSE IN THIS CASE #this post SCREAMS maladaptive daydreaming but who cares #hobie brown #hobie brown x reader #Hobie brown x you #hobie brown x y/n #writers strike #character ai #characterai #wga strike #wga solidarity #maladaptive daydreaming #madd #immersive daydreaming

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: November 2023 ~ 

🎅🏻 Happy December!!! 🎄

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post! 

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Twins - November 3rd (Thailand) 

🌟 Last Twilight -  November 10th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Middleman's Love - November 10th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 A Breeze of Love - November 10th (South Korea)

🌟 Beyond the Star - November 11th (Thailand) 

🌟 Playboyy - November 16th (Thailand) 

🌟 Pit Babe - November 17th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Wheels and Axle - November 17th (Thailand)

🌟 Bake Me Please (starring Ohm Thitiwat) - November 19th (Thailand)

🌟 7 Days Before Valentine - November 22nd (Thailand) 

🌟 My Biker - November 24th (Thailand)

🌟 VIP Only - November 24th (Taiwan)

🌟 The Sign - November 25th (Thailand) 

🌟 Every You, Every Me - November 25th (Thailand)

🌟 Cooking Crush - November 26th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 The Whisperer - November 26th (Thailand)

🌟 My Biker - November 27th (Thailand)

🌟 For Him - November 30th (Thailand)

🌟 Sahara Sensei to Toki-kun - November 30th (Japan) 

Monthly likes/dislikes

👎🏻 Love Senior - This isn't a BL but I had to include it anyway because it's horrific lmao. I peeked in bc I was interested in what Starhunter could bring to the GL genre but I should've known better lmao. It's the girl version of Sotus but so much worse. Anyone who watches this and genuinely enjoys it, please unfollow me sdhfkd.

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Your Dear Daddy - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 My Stand In (starring Up Poompat) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 My Boyfriend is a Captain - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Teach Me Touch Me - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 To Be Continued - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Love/Kill You - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Gray Currents - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Lost on the River (adapted by Sammon's novel) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Shadow Confession - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Mr. Doctor (BMS spinoff) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Became the Lead Role of a BL Drama - Coming January 1st (Japan)

🎥 The Hidden Moon - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Universe of Love - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Battle of the Writers - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 YZilla - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 You and My Stars - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Monster Next Door - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Love For Love's Sake - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Jack & Joker (starring YinWar) - Date TBA (Thailand)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ At the streaming event of the final episode of I Feel You Linger in the Air, the cast announced a second season of the show. Details are unknown.

❗️ The Taiwanese historical BL My Stand In is getting a Thai adaption. Up Poompat and Poom Phuripan have been confirmed as the leads, Porsche Tanathorn, Mek Jirakit and Inntouch Naphat have been confirmed as part of the cast as well, along with others. The series is currently in pre-production and has not disclosed any further information. 

❗️ LINE TV and TAICCA announce “Be Love, Go Love”, a project that will include 6 Taiwanese BLs/GLs, produced & realized by multiple cross-country BL producers, screenwriters and directors from shows like the HIStory franchise, To My Star, Bad Buddy, ATOTS, 2Gether, Semantic Error and more. The project will launch in the 2nd half of 2024.

❗️ MeenPing (Ai Lhong Nai) were announced as the leads for AllThis Entertainment's upcoming BL The Rebound. Further details are unknown.

❗️ After Manner of Death and Triage, another one of Sammon's novels will be adapted into a series titled Lost on the River. Further details are unknown. Regarding the adaption of her novel Euthanasia, Tor Thanapob and JJ Krissanapoom were announced as the leads. The show will be called Spare Me Your Mercy. The production stated the reason they delayed the filming for more than a year is that they wanted to make sure to get Tor and JJ as the leads.

❗️The Korean broadcasting network KBS announced the period BL Shadow Confession. This is the network's very first BL production, giving it a huge relevancy as KBS is Korea's leading television- and broadcasting system.

❗️ MaxNat's upcoming BL Two Worlds has begun filming. The show will air in early 2024.

❗️BrightNonkul (I Feel You Linger in the Air) won "Most Charming Y-Series Actors of the Year" at this year's Starlight Awards.

❗️ Studio WabiSabi held their 2024 lineup event "Next Page" on November 23rd. The following BL productions were announced:

Sunshine in the Wind (BL/GL)

Star Scope

Fourever You

The Vampire Project (formerly known as "My Broccoli", starring BounPrem)

❗️ The Thai BL Be Mine Superstar is getting a spinoff revolving around Mueng and Ning, played by Boston and Kavin. The drama is titled Mr. Doctor and will air in 2024.

❗️ Actors Yin Anan and War Wanarat announced a new upcoming project titled Jack & Joker; a BL series of a still unknown genre. The sidecast includes Prom Ratchapat, Mark Siwat and others. Yin and War said the show is an original by their agency and they will act as producers as well. The pilot trailer will be released on December 2nd. Further details are unknown.

Upcoming series & movies for December

👉🏻 Chains of Heart: The Movie - December 7th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Cherry Magic Thailand - December 9th (Thailand)

👉🏻 It's Complicated - December 14th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Dear Kitakyushu - December 14th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Colorful Melody - December 16th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Dead Friend Forever - December 23rd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Wuju Bakery - December TBA (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Intern in My Heart - December TBA (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Night Dream - December TBA (Thailand)

#doreens monthly bl breakdown #thai bl #bl drama #upcoming bl #update #bl news #its been a busy month lmao #so much came out and was announced #can barely catch a breath lmao #this took forever to make lol ur welcome

[emotionalcadaver]

Main Masterlist

Welcome! My name is Lauren. I am 23, use she/her pronouns, and am a fanfiction writer as well as a self-admitted film snob. I write OC x Canon fanfiction, mostly for Cillian Murphy characters.

18+ ONLY. Minors do not interact.

I cross-post all of my fics onto Archive of Our Own.

Most of my work deals with mature themes, so please take care to read the corresponding warnings listed in the notes of each individual fic. Your content consumption is your own responsibility. If I ever fail to include a specific warning in the notes, please feel free to kindly leave me an ask or message letting me know.

I have tag lists for all of my fics. If you would like to be added to any of these lists, please send me a comment, ask, or message, and specify which fics you would like to be tagged in. You are welcome to ask to be tagged in everything, or you can pick from any of the fics listed down below.

I do not consent to my work being copied or translated to any other platforms or by any other accounts that are not my own, nor do I consent for any of my work to be used in the training of AI.

I am always happy to chat, so please feel free to send me an ask or DM anytime! Mutuals are welcome to ask for my Discord!

Dunkirk

Cold Waters & Sunlit Gardens

When she decides to accompany the Dawsons on their voyage to help during the evacuation of Dunkirk, Daisy Preston has little idea of what she is actually getting herself into. All she knows is that there's tea, the roar of planes overhead, and the blue eyes of the handsome, shivering soldier they just rescued from a shipwreck staring at her from across the deck.

In Time

The Shackles of Broken Time

Trapped in poverty and forced to contribute to a cause she doesn't actually believe in, Rose Mason keeps her mind focused on simply surviving day to day. Until a few reckless actions catch her the attention of Timekeeper Raymond Leon; the last person anyone would want to have as an enemy.

Inception

Hiding Here Inside a Dream

Alice Emerson has known Robert Fischer since they were four years old. Instant best friends, they were near inseparable until the meddling of an abusive father drove them apart. But perhaps they can find their way back to one another. And maybe, finally, admit that they've been in love with each other all this time.

Peaky Blinders

Love Me Where I'm Most Ruined (In Progress)

They call him the Devil. They tell her to stay clear of him. They warn her that he'll steal her soul. But Lucy Winters came to Small Health fleeing monsters and unspeakable trauma. And her soul seems but a small price to pay in exchange for the things that Tommy Shelby has to offer her.

Nocturnal Me

There’s something sitting on the edge of the bed, and it wants her husband.

The Dark Knight Trilogy

The Shadow Game

Broken, traumatized, and more than a little insane, Vanessa Sullivan and Jonathan Crane's childhoods were steeped in horror and loneliness. But when they are assigned as lab partners during their time in college, they realize that they may not be as alone in their madness as they'd both originally thought.

Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, reblog, or like. I always appreciate feedback and love getting the opportunity to interact with you and hear your thoughts!

#masterlists

[maxwellatoms]

as a person on the inside of the animation industry, are there signs that we might be heading to another dark age of animation like the 1980s (e.g. animation is regulated to just glorified toy commercials or dark fantasy movies)?

"Kid Vid" regulations mean you can't advertise for stuff kids might buy from within a show anymore. Generally, you can't even have (say) Yogi Bear wearing a shirt with his best friend BooBoo's face on it as a gag, because "what if someone made that shirt one day?" Then it would be a retroactive ad, I guess? I'm not schooled in reverse-time law like studio lawyers, so I can't really say. Still, it's almost impossible to get even a fictional product into a kid's show these days, so I think the 1980s will probably stay in their timeline. At least in that way.

I do think a bit of a "Dark Age" is upon us, though. Maybe just a small one. Just a wee little snip of a Dark Age is all.

As far as I can glean, there are going to be precious few animated shows coming out over the next couple of years because not much was picked up during the pandemic. There are only a few things being developed here and there, and I'd wager that those properties "win" simply by existing in a competition-free environment. It takes a long time to produce animation, so almost anything greenlit right now is looking at a full year for turnaround. If you talk to people in the industry right now about jobs, they use words like "wastelend" and "ramen noodles".

Then you've got A.I., of course. The other night I was having dinner with a friend and I found myself in the A.I. conversation I always imagined myself having one day-- the one where we're talking with some immediacy about what the rest of our futures look like as artists, because we know they're not going to look the same ever again. It was pretty cool in a William Gibson sort of way, but I honestly didn't expect to be having that conversation for another decade. Turns out A.I. is becoming a problem right now.

I've already talked about the "art theft" angle, and that's not the problem I'm speaking about here. The problem I'm talking about is the "what do I do when what I do becomes trivial?" problem. If anyone can make a TV show or movie in a week or a day using AI assistance, who determines what gets seen? Networks, I'd imagine, would become redundant. You don't need to fork over $15 a month for Netflix if you can make Netflix-quality content yourself. And if you can't make anything decent even with A.I. assistance, surely someone on the internet can. There would be an incredible glut of content to choose from, so again... who decides what gets seen? An algorithm, probably. Who owns the algorithm?

Peak Dark Age will be the time period when the networks realize that they're going to die, and sink all of their resources into forcing their own survival on the rest of us. I imagine massive layoffs (you don't need multiple writers or artists or support staff when you've got the right tools.) Studios will want to own the tools (of course) and/or suppress the use of those tools by anyone who might want to cut into their profits. Expect to see "A.I. is just too dangerous for the public to utilize, so it needs to be left in the capable hands of corporations". Expect to see customizable Batmans, the ability to put your mom in any Star Wars, and the serialized fever-dreams of billionaires.

I think that's the next 5-10 years. And while that's happening, the tools will keep getting better and better until literally anyone can sit down, ask for an Oscar-worthy part-rom-com/part action movie starring a twenty-five year old Steve McQueen and and eighty year old Daniel Radcliffe rescuing Air Bud from the Death Star, and then watch the resulting film with some degree of satisfaction. There'll come a point when content of any visual, auditory, and written complexity can be generated on-the-fly, and the traditional limits of budgets and schedules will just be gone.

It's easy to spin off into fantasy and try to guess exactly what's coming. I could probably spin on that all day. But what I know is that the future of the animation industry won't look anything like what I've become accustomed to. And maybe that's okay because what I've become accustomed to looks nothing like the industry I started in. Things change, and you roll with the punches. Thanks to the self-fulfilling dystopian prophecy we find ourselves in, just about everyone on the planet is finding themselves rolling with the punches coming from the Powerful Greedy. That's less a "me problem" and more a planet-wide problem we should probably all sit down and hash out, like, yesterday.

My immediate problem as an artist (and yours if you're an artist too) is figuring out how to get your ideas seen in a world where the amount of entertainment content is exploding exponentially. Especially if you're the sort of artist who needs to eat and live somewhere.

So yeah, I think there's going to be just a little peppering of Dark Age coming up. But in every time of change, there are opportunities. Hey, I'm down for an animated Dark Fantasy movie. Let's do this!

#animation dark age #a.i. art #animation #the future #maxwell atoms

[joltning]

rvb aus

when I said I had a lot brewing I meant a LOT brewing…! god I need motivation

I’ll be splitting these into 3 sections: one offs/fic ideas, less expanded on ideas, and then my main aus/ones I have more ideas on

one offs/jokey aus/fic ideas:

feel free to take these ideas as your own, im not too attached to them

• grimmons fic where kai lives on iris and simmons is super nervous around her. grif thinks it’s because he has a crush on her but actually it’s because she keeps teasing him about his crush on grif

• teen beach rvb au. think about it man.

• au where lopez and felix betray locus before he can betray felix. and they kiss or something I don’t know

• freelancer donut au…!!! one of my firsts. not very good. has no substance. but it exists. tex donut beef goes CRAZY

• trivia murder party rvb au. i have no clue what this would entail

• slipspace (the grifball miniseries guys) team up with fh57 from s14. this was before I learned that fh57 was just funhouse. womp womp

• shis tril writer mentions that locus now “owns a food truck on Fiji” or something. someone write that Please im begging

• fast food au focusing on the lieutenants. + Frank from s15. i know him and bitters gonna be oomfs or whatever

• au where church stays in the s3 time loop and experiences generation loss, feeding bits of himself into the other soldiers in order to save them

• au where the s5 ending where they all die is canon and they all go to hell

less expanded ideas

• so basic but I’m putting it in this tier anyway. A song fic battle of the bands au, but MY WAY…!!!! I have a vision. Don’t know what it is yet but I have it

• campy horror movie rvb au, where they all claim to see different things in the woods, but it turns out literally every single person is the horror. they all embody horror tropes and are, of course, alone in the woods in a summer camp.

• started as an everything everywhere all at once au but turned into something more Evil. Anyway regular domestic au but then the ai from the “alpha universe” jump into people in the main universe when they’re “compatible.” GRIMMONS JUMPSCARE….!!!!! Simmons is gonna be the one to end the world and the ai are either helping or hindering that process. he becomes a literal monster. originally this au was made so I could experiment with purple prose + text art etc but I guess not anymore what the hell

• rvbz au…! Viper and shatter squad are two organizations, viper being a splinter group from the AOD. When they start fighting on chorus, the reds and blues take sides, splitting off into two groups, some staying neutral. both are somewhat regarded as terrorist groups, viper being victims of starlight labs and shatter being a sort of vigilante group that. isn’t very good at it.

• “split ends” au…!! I really hope to bring this one up to the top tier at some point! geotah focus because im ill but it’s mostly balanced as i wanna get all dynamics in. project freelancer, instead of having ai, has units run using a partner. Only one can use it at a time, and the other has to focus on running it, leaving them vulnerable on the battlefield. This goes for enhancements, but it also goes for other things, such as calculations, enemy tracking, etc. they can switch whenever they want. each pair has one unit. god i wish I could write the unseen freelancers because all those silly powers would be chaos. Oh, also, you can steal the armor enhancements like you would ai. Hmm.

more expanded ideas

these are in order from least important to me to most

• trailer au! one of my first aus, and the ONLY au I’ve written a full outline for. (it’s not very good now that I look back on it.) it asks the question: what if the s15 trailer was EXACTLY what it was eluding to? featuring…Frank staying on the film team and making a trio with jax and dylan, insane murder party reds and blues, spencer plot relevance (somewhat) omalley coming back, the reds and blues failing to beat Hargrove, tucker shooting wash, and one armor enhanced, cobalt colored Tucker.

• s15 rewrite au. after disliking the trailer au I made this one! the blues and reds, instead of being mirrors or even reflections of the main cast, is reflections of what they could have become if they hadn’t changed their old ways, if things had gotten worse. this is basically my snider cut i reorder a shit ton of things etc. also very important carolina was not there when biff died it was just Tex and she didn’t kill biff, she just refused to help him (that kill goes to our friend loco!) anyway it’s more centric of the idea of comparisons between people who have distinguishing differences. Also kuane exists

• interstate au! honestly I have so little in terms of plot but idea wise I have Everyhting. I cannot stop thinking about it sooo..that’s why it’s so high up. Okay I’ll be real this is honestly like a glorified swap au but it’s MY swap au. Basically everything after s5 (also the miniseries) is noncanon and it diverges from there. ft…wash getting sigmapilled by eta, red team maine, red and blue road trip, the quest to find kai (she’s kissing women) and the run from DEAD CAROLINA..!! DEAD..!! oh and church and tex are literally just ghosts. Instead of the director trying to bring back allison and fragmenting one full ai into attributes, he is trying to pair FULL AI with freelancers in an attempt to boil them down to one trait, to harvest them and combine them into a Super Dead Daughter Carolina. wash and eta, or Data (see what I did there) are the collectors which is why they’re the main antags or whatever

• TRIPLETS TRILOGY. OHHHH MY GOOODDDD. I can’t say much because I intend to actually show this one to the world, but WOW. love this one. Basically, the triplets and sherry’s squad are alive. After an alien crash lands on their planet years later, they’re left to explore and find out what they’ve missed while they were gone. It’s split into 3 ‘seasons,’ (with one scrapped mini series), takes place during the recollections, and is looking to be way shorter than I intended it to be, but oh well. It’s where my obsession with the green guy and the white fuck and sherryvera insanity comes from. why did I have to fixate on these random ass mfers what the hell. It’s canon plausible….!! It would never happen!!! But it could!!

now the rant’s done, here’s some older images. oh god ray’s hair is So wrong

#rvb #red vs blue #rvb au #horror au #shatter au #split ends au #trailer au #s15 rewrite au #interstate au #tts au #crackheart au #txt #doodles

[fans4wga]

Hi! Me again :).

I have some more questions. I’m genuinely trying to understand.

1. What if you directed and wrote a movie? Are you then allowed to promote it, since you’ve directed it?

2. Are you allowed to promote other people’s movies? Is it just limited to your own projects?

3. Are you allowed to respond to casting announcements as an actor? Even when the movie is not coming out any time soon? Or does that count as promoting?

4. This May sound stupid: but let’s just say you’ve been cast in the adaptation for a book and now the strike is happening. Are you allowed to talk about the book on your socials or is that crossing the line? Even if you don’t mention the adaptation?

5. Another stupid question: let’s say that you’ve been cast in the sequel of a movie that came out a few years ago? Are you allowed to talk about the first movie without mentioning the upcoming one?

These are all my questions. Sorry for asking so many, but I’m genuinely interested in supporting the situation and understanding it

These are good questions, no apology necessary :)

The Directors' Guild of America (DGA) is not currently on strike, since they reached a deal with the AMPTP in between the start of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move, to quote Douglas Adams. The DGA deal doesn't really sufficiently address AI or get wage increases to match inflation. So directors can do whatever they want right now. Some DGA members are also dual members with the WGA or SAG-AFTRA—for instance Greta Gerwig (Barbie). As a director she's free to promote the film, though not as a writer. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA might give her some side-eye right now but she's not breaking any rules. Otherwise WGA and SAG-AFTRA on strike cannot do promotion for their stuff, period.

No promotion of struck material as a WGA/SAG-AFTRA member, period. Remember the purpose of the strike is to grind Hollywood to a screeching halt and remind the studios of just how important writers and actors are. The more Hollywood stops working, the more successful the strike.

That probably counts as promoting. Again, the spirit of the strike is to basically stop all work so Hollywood gets reminded of how important the union members are to its basic functions. Strikes are supposed to be disruptive. Members who understand that will refrain from looking for loopholes.

Books aren't struck so I think that wouldn't be crossing a line. But again, members who understand that disruption is the point will not be looking for loopholes to talk about their projects, so hopefully won't do that.

Struck work includes both past and present movies/shows from struck companies (all the American networks, studios, and streamers: 350+ companies but the main ones are Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, NBC Universal, Sony/Columbia, Disney/ABC, CBS, and Fox.) SAG-AFTRA is asking people to not promote/discuss past works either. Again, it's about being as disruptive as possible.

Let us know if you have any other questions or clarifications needed—we're happy to talk the strikes anytime!

#sag-aftra strike #sag strike #fans4wga #union solidarity #actors strike #wga strong #i stand with the wga #wga strike #writers strike

[melancholysway]

In honor of me finding out there’s an app that has an AI-generated writer, I give you some TMNT headcanons written by an AI. This is by far the funniest thing I’ve done this week and it’s only Wednesday.

I DID NOT WRITE THESE HEADCANONS AT ALL! I TAKE NO CREDIT😫I was just curious on what it’d say

TMNT AI-Generated Headcanons: Special Traits/Talents!

AI: Sure, here are some TMNT headcanons for you:

Leonardo

Leonardo is a bit of a neat freak and can't stand it when things are out of place. He's constantly cleaning and organizing the lair to keep everything in order.

Leo's favorite pizza topping is green peppers!

Raphael

Raphael has a secret soft spot for animals and often volunteers at the local animal shelter, despite his tough exterior.

Raph's favorite pizza topping is sausage!

Donatello

Donatello is not only a genius when it comes to technology, but he's also an excellent artist who loves to draw and sketch in his free time.

Donnie's favorite pizza topping is mushrooms!

Michelangelo

Michelangelo is secretly a really great cook and loves to experiment in the kitchen when he has free time.

Mikey's favorite pizza topping is pepperoni!

BONUS HEADCANONS!

Splinter

Splinter is a big fan of classic movies and often spends his evenings watching old films with the turtles.

April

April O'Neil is an avid collector of antique books and often spends her weekends browsing through old bookstores looking for rare finds.

Casey

Casey Jones secretly loves to dance and often practices his moves in private when no one is around.

Baxter

Baxter Stockman is actually a vegetarian and often sneaks tofu burgers and veggie wraps into the lab for lunch.

Shredder

Shredder is secretly a huge fan of karaoke and often spends his evenings singing cheesy 80s power ballads at the local dive bar.

What do you guys think of these?

//

Taglist:

@bee-1n-space@ducky-died-inside@writingandcrying@xnorthstar3x

Masterlist

Discord

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 #bayverse tmnt #tmnt raph #tmnt donnie #tmnt leo #bayverse leo #2012 donnie #tmnt headcanons #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt mikey #raphael #leonardo

[arse-crack-thistle]

why nicholas can't promote the film?

members of the sag-aftra (aka the actors’ union in america) are on strike right now. they are asking for fair wages, protection from their image and likeness being replicated in ai, streaming residuals, and many more things you can read here. because of the strike, members must cease all work, including promotion for projects of struck studios. more info on that here. any person a part of the union or who wishes to be in the future cannot cross the picket line. this includes nick and all actors in rwrb.

the writers’ union (wga) is also on strike with very similar terms, which is why casey has not explicitly promoted the film. they just sort of talk around it. to my knowledge, they’re not a part of the union, but they very well could be someday.

the directors’ union (dga) is not on strike, so matthew lopez is not crossing the picket line by promoting the film. and as of right now, there is no call from any union to boycott theaters, streaming sites, cable tv, etc., so feel free to still consume media but still be conscious of the strikes.

the studio execs literally want to force members of both unions back to work by dragging the strike out as long as possible, leaving them unable to pay bills, rent, food, etc. so if you’re able, consider donating. if you’re unable, consider promoting the strike on social media. more pressure on the studios is always good.

and just to make it perfectly clear, i stand with the unions.

to donate to the sag foundation, go here.

to donate to the writers’ foundation, go here.

#support the unions #workers rights #sag aftra #sag aftra strike #sag aftra solidarity #sag aftra strong #wga #wga strike #wga solidarity #wga strong #union strong #pro union #rwrb #rwrb movie #nicholas galitzine #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #firstprince #casey mcquiston #matthew michael lopez #red white and royal blue #asks

[trans-yaoi]

One thing i really hate from the current internet is that every work that's low quality is considered AI.

Like, you DO realize people can just... Suck at art, right? You know that sometimes something is done lazily as a quick cashgrab, right? You DO realized people can just be inexperienced writers, right???

And the reason WHY it makes me mad isn't even mostly that, it's that by calling everything bad “Made by AI”, it gives above average AI "art" go unnoticed! If we focus on the bad but genuine things and call them fake, the ACTUALLY FAKE thing slips out of our fingers!!!

Big example of this: the "Our Drawings" free YouTube film. I do believe that that movie came from a place of genuine emotion about how artists are treated, no matter how terrible the animation and writing is. But every single video i watched on it has the people saying “This feels made by AI” “This writing was made by AI”, HELL, EVEN “This animation was made by AI”, which is BONKERS to me.

Don't get me wrong, him boasting how it was better than TADC, Pixar, etc. was shitty! But it doesn't change the fact that HE WROTE IT HIMSELF. IT WAS NOT AI. When we see bad writing like this, we shouldn't fucking assume it's AI unless proven otherwise!!! for the love of God, GIVE ACTUAL CRITICISM SO PEOPLE CAN GROW INSTEAD OF THROWING THE WORD AI AROUND.

#peke.txt #rant post #anti ai

[wanderinginksplot]

What to watch during the ongoing WGA strike

As the WGA strike keeps going, put the pressure where it belongs: on big companies, not the writers working for better conditions.

While we wait for new content (after an equitable agreement), here are some lesser-known movies, along with the (US) streaming services where they can be found. Feel free to add on with a title, short description, and where it can be found!

(Television show version here!)

Films listed under the cut!

Netflix:

The Gray Man (2022) - Rated R. A CIA spook known only as Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling) is assigned to kill a former Sierra member... only to find himself at the center of a conspiracy. At the same time, he becomes the target of a sadistic ex-CIA mercenary (Chris Evans).

Genre: Action/thriller. There are likely to be more Gray Man films coming in the near future, along with a television show based on Chris Evans's chillingly villainous Lloyd Hansen.

Rocky (1976) - Rated PG. Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) is a washed-up boxer who works as a Mafia enforcer. He gets an unexpected chance at glory when boxer Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) wants to fight an unknown.

Genre: Drama/sports. If you don't know the story behind Rocky, it's almost as good as the movie itself!

The Imitation Game (2014) - Rated PG-13. The story of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), particularly his work in World War II to decode Enigma transmissions intercepted from the Axis powers.

Genre: Biographical drama. The Imitation Game is the story of Alan Turing's life, both triumphs and tragedies. It contains themes of hidden homosexuality, cruel and unusual punishment, and suicide.

Max:

Triple Frontier (2019) - Rated R. An ex-Delta Force soldier (Oscar Isaac) asks his prior teammates to come on one final mission, with the promise of an incredible payout.

Genre: Action/adventure. Triple Frontier is a typical action/adventure movie with some interesting effects and a cast (Isaac, Ben Affleck, Pedro Pascal, Charlie Hunnam, and Garrett Hedlund) that elevates it a little further.

Parasite (2019) - Rated R. The Kim family struggles to make ends meet until Ki-woo is referred to tutor a rich teenager. Through manipulation and daring, the entire Kim family ends up employed by the unknowing Park family.

Genre: Black comedy/thriller. Full of fascinating dynamics and an interesting look at divisions of wealth in South Korea, it's clear to see why Parasite gained such acclaim.

Casablanca (1942) - Rated PG. Casablanca, Morocco is a popular departure point for people fleeing the Nazis. Jaded nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) must decide whether to risk his life to help his ex (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband escape.

Genre: Romance/drama. Casablanca is considered by many to be the greatest movie ever made. If you haven't seen it, try it. Keep an eye out for dry humor and the way the director uses shadows to keep the black and white film interesting!

Ex Machina (2014) - Rated R. Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) wins an office lottery to help the company's CEO (Oscar Isaac) test his new AI (Alicia Vikander).

Genre: Sci-fi/psychological thriller. With incredible effects, a labyrinthine plot, and uncomfortable questions about what makes us human, it's easy to see why Ex Machina is considered one of the best sci-fi films of the last decade.

Hulu:

The Last Action Hero (1993) - Rated PG-13. Film fan Danny (Austin O'Brien) goes to see the latest in his favorite franchise, he finds himself pulled into the movie, working alongside his hero Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzeneggar).

Genre: Fantasy/action/satire. Think of every action trope you associate with Arnold Schwarzeneggar, mix it with a vibe like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and add some self-aware humor, and you have The Last Action Hero. This is not a popular film among internet aggregators, but I enjoyed it!

Palm Springs (2020) - Rated R. Reluctant maid of honor Sarah (Cristin Milioti) is fascinated by a wedding guest (Andy Samberg) who seems to know more than he should. When she follows him from the wedding, she finds herself stuck with him in a time loop.

Genre: Sci-fi/rom-com. Though Palm Springs has some real COVID-19 quarantine vibes, the plot keeps it from feeling like a time capsule.

Whiplash (2014) - Rated R. Talented drummer Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) is identified for an elite jazz band by sadistic and manipulative conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons).

Genre: Drama. Though Whiplash is not a horror movie, it is partially produced by Blumhouse Productions. That darkness really shines through in Fletcher's abusive behavior.

Role Models (2008) - Rated R. After a disastrous, drunken day at work, Danny (Paul Rudd) is assigned community service in a big brother program. He is assigned to awkward teenager Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and accompanies him during his favorite activity: LARPing.

Genre: Humor. Though Role Models can get a little close to cringe comedy, it's got enough genuine humor and heart to get away with it... and even be a little sweet.

Amazon Prime:

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - Rated R. An author tells the story of Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the owner of a once-grand hotel in the former country of Zubrowka, using several frame stories.

Genre: Drama. Wes Anderson's films have a very characteristic style. The Grand Budapest Hotel features stunning sets, a ton of cameos, and enough quirky humor to keep you entertained!

Hot Fuzz (2007) - Rated R. London police officer Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is reassigned to the small town of Sandford. He's frustrated by the small town at first, but a string of murders make him suspect something more is going on...

Genre: Action/comedy. Hot Fuzz is the second installment of the Cornetto Trilogy. It is a satirical look at the cop film genre - and thus has a lot of overdramatic violence - but it manages to stand on its own at the same time.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) - Rated PG. Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are two teens more interested in their band than their studies. But if they don't pass their history final, Ted will be sent to military school. A mysterious stranger gives them a time machine, sending them off to write the best essay of all time!

Genre: Comedy/sci-fi. If you're used to Keanu Reeves as a broody hero, you're in for a shock and a treat to see him at his surfer/stoner/slacker best!

The Iron Giant (1999) - Rated PG. In 1957, 9-year-old Hogarth Hughes finds a 50-foot tall robot in the woods. He befriends the giant and the two work to evade the government, who suspect it is an attack on the United States.

Genre: Family/adventure. The Iron Giant is one of the most recognizable and emotional animated films of the 1990s - extra impressive considering it's a Warner Bros film that came out in the middle of the Disney Renaissance!

Disney+

The Boondock Saints (1999) - Rated R. Irish Catholic brothers Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) living in 1990s Boston are sick of the crime on the streets. They decide to take matters into their own hands.

Genre: Crime/drama. The Boondock Saints has low scores on almost every film aggregator site, but is widely considered a cult classic. (Edit: warnings for insensitive portrayal of homosexuality and transgenderism.)

Feel free to reblog this and add your own lesser-known film suggestions! Support the WGA strike!

The Reluctant Dragon (1941) - Rated G. Robert Benchley wants to sell a movie idea to Walt Disney. As he searches for Walt, he wanders through the studio and sees how many of the magical movie effects are done.

Genre: Family/fantasy. I'll admit, this film was included on purpose. Not because it's amazing (it's interesting at best), but because of the story behind it. The Reluctant Dragon was released three weeks after the majority of the animators went on strike. (And most of the "workers" in the film are actually actors, another sore spot.) Disney fired all of the strikers before eventually agreeing to let them unionize and rehiring those who wished to return. (You can read more about the strike here.)

#wga strike #wga solidarity #movies #netflix #the gray man #rocky #the imitation game #triple frontier #hbo max #parasite #casablanca #ex machina #the last action hero #hulu #palm springs #whiplash #role models #the grand budapest hotel #amazon prime #hot fuzz #bill and ted's excellent adventure #the iron giant #the boondock saints #disney+ #the reluctant dragon #union #labor rights #film

[thesoulspulse]

No More Uberduck

Well it was fun while it lasted, but this is probably for the best given all the AI drama still going on that’s been disrupting the livelihood of many talented artists, voice actors, singers, writers, and actors in the film industry. We should definitely support the work of real people as much as we can because sadly, like any tool, technology can always be abused if used the wrong way. Don’t get me wrong I really enjoyed being able to imagine Danny or Vlad saying certain lines of dialogue, however, we should always remember it was the voice actors who played them back in the day that brought these amazing characters to life in the first place.

Without them, none of these characters would exist let alone have a voice. Literally!

So yeah, just a heads up the policy has changed for uberduck which means the fan uploaded character voices are no longer available for public use. You can read that here: https://uberduck.ai/blog/new-voice-hosting-policy Thankfully I don’t have to take down or delete any of the audio clips I’ve already shared on tumblr which means you’re free to check them out for a bit of nostalgia. And on one final note, I think we all probably know who to blame for AI trying to take over the world right now am I right? This whole mess screams Technus!

#uberduck #policy change #voice acting #voice impression #ai voices #just a heads up #technus #danny fenton #danny phantom #david kaufman #vlad masters #vlad plasmius #martin mull #rob paulsen #voice actors

[mariacallous]

In the early weeks of 2023, as worry about ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools was ratcheting up dramatically in the public conversation, a tweet passed through the many interlocking corners of Book Twitter. “Imagine if every Book is converted into an Animated Book and made 10x more engaging,” it read. “AI will do this. Huge opportunity here to disrupt Kindle and Audible.”

The tweet’s author, Gaurav Munjal, cofounded Unacademy, which bills itself as “India’s largest learning platform”—and within the edtech context, where digitally animated books can be effective teaching tools, his suggestion might read a certain way. But to a broader audience, the sweeping proclamation that AI will make “every” book “10x more engaging” seemed absurd, a solution in search of a problem, and one predicated on the idea that people who choose to read narrative prose (instead of, say, watching a film or playing a game) were somehow bored or not engaged with their unanimated tomes. As those who shared the tweet observed, it seems like a lot of book industry “disruptors” just don’t like reading.

Munjal is one of many tech entrepreneurs to ping the book world’s radar—and raise its collective hackles—in recent months. Many were hawking AI “solutions” they promised would transform the act of writing, the most derided among them Sudowrite’s Story Engine (dubbed in a relatively ambivalent review by The Verge’s Adi Robertson as “the AI novel-writing tool everyone hates”). Story Engine raised frustrations by treating writers as an afterthought and, by its very existence, suggesting that the problems it was trying to bypass weren’t integral to the act of writing itself.

Last month, Justine Moore, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, provided a sort of bookend to Munjal’s “AI-animated books” proposal. “The three largest fanfic sites—[Archive of Our Own], Fanfiction.net, and Wattpad—get 3 billion-plus annual visits in the US alone,” she wrote. “Imagine how much bigger this market could be if you could chat with characters vs. reading static stories?” The thread was likely a reference to Character.ai, a startup that lets users chat with fictional heroes and villains; Andreessen Horowitz led a $150 million funding round for the company in March. The comment also came after the revelation that large language models (LLMs) may have scraped fanfiction writers’ work—which is largely written and shared for free—causing an (understandable) uproar in many fan communities.

Setting aside the fact that fandom role-playing has been a popular practice for decades, Moore’s statements felt like a distillation of tech’s tortured relationship with narrative prose. There are many kinds of fanfiction—including an entire subgenre in which “you” are a character in the story. But those are still stories, sentences deliberately written and arranged in a way that lets you lose yourself in an authored narrative. “Imagine having such a fundamental misunderstanding of the appeal of reading fanfiction—let alone reading fiction more broadly,” I wrote in response to her thread. What’s so wrong with people enjoying reading plain old words on a page?

The tech world has long been convinced that it understands the desires of readers better than they do themselves. For years, VCs have promised to upend books and the structures around their creation and consumption. Some came from within the publishing industry, but like their counterparts “disrupting” other sectors, including film and TV, many more did not. And for the most part, despite tech’s sometimes drastic (and often negative) effects on other industries, book- and reading-related startups failed to alter much at all. People are still buying books—in fact, they’re buying more than ever. Pandemic lockdowns brought a perhaps unsurprising boom in sales, and even though numbers slipped as restrictions lifted, print sales were still nearly 12 percent higher in 2022 than they were in 2019, and sales of audio books continue to increase dramatically year over year.

One reason books haven’t been particularly disruptable might be that many of the people looking to “fix” things couldn’t actually articulate what was broken—whether through their failure to see the real problems facing the industry (namely, Amazon’s stranglehold), or their insistence that books are not particularly enjoyable as a medium. “It’s that arrogance, to come into a community you know nothing about, that you might have studied as you study for an MBA, and think that you can revolutionize anything,” says writer and longtime book-industry observer Maris Kreizman. “There were so many false problems that tech guys created that we didn’t actually have.”

Take, for example, the long string of pitches for a “Netflix for books”—ideas that retrofitted Netflix’s original DVDs-by-mail model for a different medium under the presumption that readers would pay to borrow books when the public library was right there. Publisher’s Weekly keeps a database of book startups that now numbers more than 1,300; many of them are marked “Closed,” alongside a graveyard of broken URLs. There were plenty of practical ideas—targeting specific demographics or genres or pegged to more technical aspects, like metadata or production workflows. But many more proposed ways to alter books themselves—most of which made zero sense to people who actually enjoy reading.

“I don’t think they’re coming to that with a love of fiction or an understanding of why people read fiction,” Kreizman says. “If they were, they wouldn’t make these suggestions that nobody wants.”

The “10x more engaging” crowd has come in waves over the past two decades, washed ashore via broader tech trends, like social media, tablets, virtual reality, NFTs, and AI. These tech enthusiasts promised a vast, untapped market full of people just waiting for technology to make books more “fun” and delivered pronouncements with a grifting sort of energy that urged you to seize on the newest trend while it was hot—even as everyone could see that previous hyped ventures had not, in fact, utterly transformed the way people read. Interactive books could have sound effects or music that hits at certain story beats. NFTs could let readers “own” a character. AI could allow readers to endlessly generate their own books, or to eschew—to borrow one particular framing—“static stories” entirely and put themselves directly into a fictional world.

AI isn’t remotely a new player in the book world. Electronic literature artists and scholars have worked with various forms of virtual and artificial intelligence for decades, and National Novel Generation Month, a collaborative challenge modeled after NaNoWriMo, has been around since 2013. Even now, as much of the book world loudly rejects AI-powered writing tools, some authors are still experimenting, with a wide range of results. But these bespoke, usually one-off projects are a far cry from the tech industry’s proposals to revolutionize reading at scale—not least because the projects were never intended to replace traditional books.

“A lot of interactive storytelling has gone on for a very long time,” says Jeremy Douglass, an assistant professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, citing everything from his early career work on hypertext fiction to the class he’ll teach next year on the long history of the pop-up book to centuries-old marginalia like the footnote and the concordance. “These fields are almost always very old, they’re almost always talked about as if they’re brand-new, and there haven’t really been a lot of moments of inventing a new modality.”

To VC claims that AI will totally alter books, Douglass takes what he calls a “yes, and” stance. “What people are actually doing is creating a new medium. They’re not actually replacing the novel; they created a new thing that was like the novel but different, and the old forms carried on. I’m still listening to the radio, despite the film and game industries’ efforts.”

Tech entrepreneurs rarely pitch “yes, and” ideas. In their view, new technologies will improve on—and eventually supplant—what exists now. For all of his interest in the many forms of interactive fiction, Douglass doubts that most books would benefit from an AI treatment.

“There are extremely pleasurable aesthetic systems that aren’t intentional,” he says. “But how often when I’m reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X or The Joy of Cooking do I think, ‘If only a chatbot could augment this on the fly’? And it’s partly the fact that some communication is deeply intentional, and that’s part of the pleasure. It’s handcrafted, it’s specific, there’s a vision.”

That isn’t to say that Douglass thinks there’s zero appetite for AI in literature—but it’s “probably a very small slice of the pie. So when you say ‘all books’? Almost certainly not. For the same reason that we’re not reading 100 percent pop-up books, or watching all of our books on YouTube, or anything else you can imagine. People are doing that too, but it’s extra.”

The exact size of that small pie slice remains to be seen, as does the general public’s appetite for instant novels, or chatting with characters, or hitting a button that will animate any book in your digital library. But those desires will likely need to come from readers themselves—not from the top down. “If you just give the tools to everybody, which is happening in spite of venture capital, as well as because of it, people will figure out what they want it for—and it’s usually not what the inventors and the investors think,” Douglass says. “It’s not even in their top-10 list of guesses, most of the time. It’s incredibly specific to the person and genre.”

The recent history of publishing has plenty of examples in which digital tools let people create things we couldn’t have predicted in the analog days: the massive range of extremely niche self-published romance, for example, or the structural variation and formal innovation within the almost entirely online world of fanfiction.

But when the tech industry approaches readers with ways to “fix” what isn’t broken, their proposals will always ring hollow—and right now, plain old reading still works for huge numbers of people, many of whom pick up books because they want to escape and not be the main character for a while. “That’s a good thing,” Kreizman says. And as AI true believers sweep through with promises that this technology will change everything, it helps to remember just how many disruptors have come and gone. “In the meantime, tech bros will still find VCs to wine and dine and spend more money on bullshit,” Kreizman predicts. But for the rest of us? We’ll just keep on reading.

[uncloseted]

Am I the only one who feels that we've jumped timelines into a crazy alternate reality where tech companies are building ai that take parts of humanity away instead of doing the jobs people hate to free up time for humanity? It's targeted art, writing, film, photography, and now they're pushing ai dating where an ai you talks to another ai match before you decide if you want to talk to the real person or not. It's destroying what makes us human and further isolating us from one and other

I get this for sure, but I think that our current use of AI is more a symptom of late stage capitalism than it is a problem within itself. In a system where the accumulation of capital is the ultimate goal, there will always be a race to the bottom in terms of production costs. Corporations don't care if people like their jobs or not; they care about how much value is being created for their shareholders. *All* jobs are being targeted by AI, not just the ones that people like, because all human labor more expensive than a corporation wants it to be.

In a human-centered system, I think AI would be a tool instead of a threat. It can help people who struggle with fine motor skills to create art, or help jog people's memories or get them over writer's block, or fix all the fiddly parts of photo editing that nobody really likes to do. It could make it easier for people with neurological disabilities to navigate the world. It could allow people who speak different languages to have a seamless conversation, and it could match people to create meaningful and lasting friendships. It could help teach people how to improve their interpersonal and empathetic skills. I don't think AI is necessarily a bad thing. I think unbridled capitalism is the ultimate problem here, and I think more than AI technologies, that's what's destroying what makes us human and isolating us from each other. Not to be like, a Marx apologist on main or whatever, but I think he was right when he said that capitalism "estranges from man… his human aspect" and "(leads to)…the estrangement of man from man".

But. We don't have to let that happen, at least not on an interpersonal level. If art is what makes you feel human, keep creating art. Opt to meet new friends and significant others in the real world instead of on an app. Bake your neighbor a pie. I know those things feel small in the face of a world that's becoming increasingly digitized, but I really do think that banding together and building community with one another is the only way we're going to be able to make any real impact on this issue or any others.