Last month, OpenAI launched the hyperrealistic video generation software, Sora 2. Despite the app initially requiring an invite code to download, it rocketed to number one on the App Store, surpassing apps like Google Maps and TikTok. As of November 10, it is still in the top five most downloaded apps.
Writing for his blog, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hailed the new app as a breakthrough for artistic innovation, claiming that “creativity could be about to go through a Cambrian explosion, and along with it, the quality of art and entertainment can drastically increase. Even in the very early days of playing with Sora, it’s been striking to many of us how open the playing field suddenly feels.”
After a full two months of the “playing field being leveled”, it’s beginning to increasingly feel like the creative playing field is undergoing a major regression instead.
Look up “AI video generation” on YouTube and the first results that pop up are instructional videos on how to make money by creating dozens of “faceless” channels and uploading thousands of AI generated videos every day. ChatGPT automated the writing process for creating scripts for digital media, and, thanks to Sora and their dozens of copycats that have popped up over the past month or so, the filming and production phase is automated too. It is now possible to, with less than a second of work or idea generation, create something that feels human but is as impersonal- and inhuman- as can be.
Is this really good for creativity? Good for art? Good for us? Original human thought is now able to be left squarely outside of the creative process, and the almost 150 year practice of film can now be a side hustle that regurgitates bits and pieces of other people’s creations into an Aramark Nutraloaf of “content.”
The people that use AI video in earnest also don’t appear to be super beneficial to the creative process.
Donald Trump and his presidency appear to be on the cutting edge of unique AI video creation. In response to the Oct. No Kings protests that swept across the country, he posted a nineteen second Sora video of him in a fighter jet dropping fecal matter on his constituency. He followed up this video with a short clip depicting himself arresting former president Barack Obama.
In the same vein, a wave of videos are now popping up across TikTok featuring AI generated videos of poor, usually African American, people attempting to purchase things like TVs, cruise ship tickets, and birthday cakes with their EBT cards. These videos get tens of thousands of likes and reach an audience of millions. And on the opposite side of the pendulum, videos of deceased right wing political figure Charlie Kirk are now inundating social media, with thousands of videos of “Kirkslop” clips mocking his death.
At a certain point, it’s becoming increasingly unclear as to who exactly wants these videos. According to a YouGov study, over ⅔ of the country says they disapprove of AI videos, and despite our current age of unbelievable political polarization this concern manages to transcend political messaging, with roughly 60 percent of both Democrats and Republicans disliking AI footage.
Nobody interested in artistic creativity wins with AI video. When it’s not being used as a mindless moneymaking operation or a tool to divide Americans further, AI videos are not making us better artists or making better art. For better or worse, the fears of AI content replacing mainstream movies and television seem to be dissipating. The people truly passionate about making amazing things will continue to use cameras, art, and original ideas. But it looks like everything else will be left to the bots.
