Human creativity
There is a lot of AI talk these days, and rightly so. I have incorporated the tools into my daily life, either talking to Chatgpt or using machine learning plugins for work.
It is unfortunate that AI is used to create the stuff we humans are the best at—art. For anyone who spends time on the internet, there is so much AI ‘slop’ everywhere that it’s hard to avoid it—images, videos, music.
As someone who has always worked in a creative field, it is concerning.
And yet, every week I also get enough proof that makes me believe it will be fine.
This week, I went to see the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The theatre was full of kids and their grandparents, and everyone was enjoying the show.
On May the Fourth, we went to see the Bournemouth Orchestra perform music from Star Wars. Again, people of all ages enjoyed the concert (no visuals!).
The last example is the game I started playing, Expedition 33, which proves that people want good storytelling that isn’t filled with corporate greed.
It’s easy to be a bit depressed about the state of all of it, but I don’t think people would show up if all of the above were performed or created by AI.
WHAT AM I WORKING ON
As I was about to put the Polish Casefile YouTube channel to the side, it started getting traction with people commenting, subscribing and watching the videos. We will simplify it and try to catch up with the audio releases as the YT fell slightly behind.
But I am glad people are enjoying it!
We released another video from the history series about Medieval Christian Rituals and their movie portrayals. I also dropped a short Dexter comparison video.
WHAT AM I READING
Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts. I am about 20% in, but to be honest, I haven’t had as much time to spend with the book. It is very detailed, and because I am not a history buff (I prefer the overall look rather than memorising names and dates), I tend to read it for the story rather than inside knowledge. But it’s good. I will watch the Ridley Scott movie after I am done with it (although I heard it’s not the best).
WHAT AM I LISTENING
Star Wars Orchestra. On May the Fourth, we went to see the Bournemouth Orchestra perform music from all nine movies (in Bristol Beacon). Nothing can match the sound of a full orchestra, and it was great to see a packed hall with people of all ages (some raised their hands that never saw the movies—what?).
Clair Obscure: Expedition 33. I don’t have time to play video games, but I heard so much praise for this one that I had to download it. I am also obsessed with the soundtrack at the moment, learning a couple of pieces on the piano. So simple, so good.
WHAT AM I WATCHING
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Do you remember the old movie with Dick van Dyke? The one with the classic flying car? The stage musical is touring, and we went to see it on Friday. To be fair, it was better than I expected - funny, campy, borderline panto, but at the same time well acted with great sets and energy. People loved it - both kids and grandparents.
The Studio. I watched the Seth Rogen series last week, a sort of meta-Hollywood satire. To me, it’s super funny, but you do need to know a little bit about cinema to get all of the inside jokes. It also made me nostalgic about the good old days when I worked at the Pinewood movie studio.
Conclave. I finally watched the highly praised 2024 movie. It is timely, as the actual conclave is happening this week. It is a great political thriller with an amazing score. I actually listened to an interview with the composer Volker Bertelmann before watching the film. It has an award-winning, highly praised music.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you (hopefully!) next week!
Mike
https://mikemigas.com/
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