Don’t fear the advent of artificial intelligence: Prime Time panelists

OTTAWA–While artificial intelligence (AI) may seem daunting to people in the creative industries, they should embrace it. To that end, the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) sponsored a panel on AI Friday at its annual Prime Time conference. “I don’t want people to feel fear, I want people to feel prepared,” the CEO of the Farpoint consulting firm Nicholas Ning told the audience. “When you’re underneath the technology curve, it’s not the time to be fearful, it’s not the time to stop, it’s the time to start exploring,” Jared Ficklin, founding partner of Texas company Argodesign, advised. The session started out with moderator David Reevely of The Logic pointing out that much of the initial work on current AI formats was done at the University of Toronto and Université de Montréal. Ning gave a PowerPoint presentation that delineated the history of AI. The earliest iterations harken back to 1948 and the work of British computer expert Alan Turing. He said workers will not be replaced by robots using AI, they will be replaced by other workers using AI. Similarly, companies will be usurped by other firms using the technology and nations will fall to other countries employing AI. Robots are just labour, Ficklin stated. He pointed out that currently many film and television producers use drones to shoot difficult scenes. The Austin, TX-based expert had the crowd laughing when he showed them an AI-generated photo of Pope Francis at the Burning Man festival. But change is incremental, he told his audience. “We’re in the midst of a technological sea change,” he stated. “We think that technology rides a perfect constant. It does not. It’s stair steps.” To illustrate his point, Ficklin mentioned washing machines. At one time, the humans had to do all the work of sorting clothes, determining how to best clean them and the like. Now smart washers figure out how to get certain stains removed. The washing machines of the future will take even more of the load off the shoulders of the human. But he does not despair. There will always be a desire for human creativity, he believes. ChatGPT may be able to write novels and scripts but, since the algorithms are based on an average, the finished product will itself be average. His co-panelist agreed. “Don’t be afraid we’re all going to be fine,” Ning concluded. Earlier that day, BCE Inc. announced it was partnering with Quebec AI research institute Mila on a project to apply deep learning neural network algorithms to Bell’s systems and data. The effort will last a year and a half. The models, inspired by human brains, teach computers to recognize patterns in pictures, text and related data. Mila researchers will be working with Bell AI teams to improve performance and customer satisfaction. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca.

Don’t fear the advent of artificial intelligence: Prime Time panelists

News | February 5, 2024

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Don’t fear the advent of artificial intelligence: Prime Time panelists

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