Creative Renaissance

AI can be a gateway to just improve everyone's performance across the board. If you can just be an average, you're actually much better than many people...especially in the Philippines, [because] I've had the privilege of working abroad, you can meet some really superlative performers abroad, scientists, engineers, programmers -- they're very good. In the Philippines, it's just enough to be consistent -- just be consistent. You don't have to be a genius...[S]o I feel that's why I'm hopeful AI can be a guide to consistency and quality...average quality that's generally good...

I already know for a fact that AI is being used in our creatives and advertising industry, mostly [being used] for prompts. Like it helps them create...write initial drafts or copy, replies, and other stuff like that. It's already being used that way...It's one of those things...where AI isn't bad, like use it as a means to get started...It's already being used. I know for a fact that there are ad agencies are using it.

Customer service is already even using it, because...instead of having a one person constantly having to write something new, or sound robotic and write a reply that's based on a template, it helps to like have an AI just start writing for you, and then reply. But it still needs a person to like look at it and think and say: "Does this have everything that I asked for?" And so customer service is already being using it.

[There's also]...the legal industry...AI actually can write very legitimate and very effective demand letters...I've asked ChatGPT to write me a demand letter before...and then asked a lawyer friend "Does this look legit?". And yep, [it was]...The legal industry industry will probably be using it more, because if it gets the the job of like writing pages faster, why not, in that sense? Because that could save...a person hours of lawyer fees (because that's charged per hour) and pages as well, because lawyers will charge you per page too. And so you end up paying more for...appearance fees than actual consultation, in that sense...I know that might affect it, because...I've tried it, and it could be a possibility. Um, where else? I don't think it will get to a point, at least in the next two years, where it will be used in law in itself, like creation of laws. But legal profession, yes, it probably will. At the very least, [in] the hands of a good lawyer, ChatGPT is really good.

...[O]ne of the nice things about having all of this tech anyways is [that] it saves you time...you don't have to...use your precious mental bandwidth on thinking about tedious things; a lot of this stuff is kind of handled for you. So what do you do with the extra time that you are now gaining, as a result of that? Well, hopefully, you're doing good things like reading, exercising, learning new skills, stuff like that.

I feel the challenge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is for us to change...our frame, not just [as] a frame of reference, but our way of life to adopt data as a way of life. Because without data, we won't be able to transcend to the Fifth Industrial Revolution. And I feel the Fifth is all about being a multiplanetary race or multiplanetary species. So can you imagine...those self...propelling rockets of SpaceX? If you didn't have AI, would you be able to land them? [It's] possible [that] you'd be crashing them. So I feel that AI needs to be mastered. So that when we are finally in the economy where we're mining asteroids going to the moon for vacations and stuff, AI does 90% of the hard grunt work and humans are left to do...critical thinking, inspiration, strategy, that's us. But execution is [a] reading machine already. Now that's a very bitter pill to swallow because we love our role in our society even though a lot of that is very mundane, you know? Like my favorite example is pressing buttons on an elevator, probably the most mundane task, but we pay people for that right in malls. Why do we waste human lives on that kind of job? Why don't we put people where [they can truly thrive?]

...[W]e also need way less people to start more projects that are more ambitious. Previously, you had to learn how to code...you had to learn how to do a bunch of technical things to be able to start companies. But with the judicious use of ChatGPT, and maybe some experience, not as much as before. You could probably start your own actual company now. And that applies not just to making apps, but all sorts of things. For example, if you want to offer paralegals-as-a-service right, then [AI will] do all that like legal research for you? You can probably do that. Actually, [you'd probably need to do that] to be able to serve every single lawyer who needs research. Of course, it's not going be a walk in the park, because, all of these things are still new. But what I'm trying to say is that, for the people who are ambitious enough to get it, they can probably do way more today than what they could [do] 5 years ago. And I think that's a very important thing that a lot of people dismiss in a shallow way.

...[K]ung kaya natin idivert yung attention natin from commercial interests to some things we really enjoy doing, such as for example...video games. Alam mo ba sa Steam, andami kong games, mga two hundred fifty. O ilan lang nalalaro ko doon, kwarenta lang. O ayun, maeenjoy ko na sila sa wakas kasi nga kontento na ako...Sana mangyari sa 2040.

...I hope we can still see things made by people and not like purely by AI...you know, this is gonna sound so horrible, but I really just want to hear music [from] someone...by someone with a really good voice, because I feel like a lot of the acts today, [while] a lot of them are really good...you don't [listen to them] for their voice...I think it's just the virality...everything sounds like TikTok now. I sound like such a tita saying this, but when I listen to all the new music, it just sounds like it was made for TikTok. So maybe [I would love to see]...music that isn't like made for TikTok virality...I'm just gonna sound so tita, but like...the [music made] in the 1990s or like, even before then, just...not in the 2020s...like sometimes I hear music [nowadays] and like everyone sounds like a chipmunk, like Alvin and the Chipmunks, but I don't know why. And now I just think...TikTok music, they got old songs, they just sped it up now. Like [for instance,] Fergie sounds like a chipmunk, and I'm like...what happened to [the] original Fergie? Like what happened to that? So I guess...maybe music that's still made by humans, and no one sounds like a chipmunk. Like people sound like people...even the songs [nowadays], they sound like background music in a video game. Which is not to say that background music in a video game is bad...I play video games and some of the background music is amazing. But when it sounds...repetitive...like elevator music...it gets worrying.

...[M]aybe this is a bit too idealistic, but could you imagine a Renaissance-like thing, where all these new tools [and] all these new resources will be used by people to do whatever the hell they want. That might mean 10 times more movies, books, songs, etc. in a way that still has some sort of artistic autonomy, if you will...

I do think, contrary to what people say, I'm not too scared about our creatives [being affected by AI]. To be honest, I'm actually not too scared because I have a feeling they might flourish with it. Once they learn how to prompt well, it might help them. So I'm not too scared, because if anything, AI becomes more as a hindrance instead of a tool. I always say the best push for creativity is boundaries...So I have a feeling creativity might flourish, even with AI, because...they might think about things to fuck up AI, that [ends up creating] something new.

...[W]e will have to contend with like this divergence between art and craft. And I think taste is going to be more important as we go along. With the sheer amount of content that will be produced [with AI], someone has to disentangle all of that, like: "Oh okay, here are all the the things that I want, and that I think are are capital G good". So I think taste is going to be very important from this point on.

...[E]ntertainment is a thing that I see as a human thing to do. Entertainment plays a lot with the emotions that humans feel and let's say enjoying a well written show. That's the thing that should be felt by a director, and not necessarily the thing that we've been seeing right now, AI generated art, or whatever art pieces, drawings, films, music, etc. So I wouldn't want AI technology following that route where it takes over that for us. So to improve the human experience regarding technology and entertainment, maybe newer methods of entertainment could be introduced.

...[Y]ung mga on the progressive side would be able to, maweeweed out yung mga talagang pangit magsulat, yung mga nagsusulat ng Mary Sue type characters. Matitira diyan yung mga may compelling storylines. Kita mo sa Pixar diba mga, kung tutuusin medyo progressive yung themes pero compelling yung story diba? For example Brave, andaming napapangitan sa Brave pero maganda yung...bida ng Brave...Actually to be honest...yung Frozen tsaka yung Moana, tapos if you have watched...yung kay Lualhati Bautista yung "Dekada 70" tsaka yung..."Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa"? Yun may progressive yung themes nun pero compelling yung stories, it's still a classic. I would watch it...Tingin ko mababawasan lang talaga from the market yung mga pangit magsulat.

I guess there would be a rise in white collar jobs, rather than the typical blue color jobs you [would] associate... [with] Filipino[s]. So this time, I feel that it's like a Renaissance in the sense that we can make up [for our stagnation], and we can [become] pioneers in some fields. I don't know. I feel like the Philippines has that potential.

...[S]elf-driving cars, maybe?...[D]riving...[can be considered as] some sort of menial labor, and...[i]t's definitely not [easy]. And I understand the stress of driving, but it's laborious but repetitive. You don't particularly grow as a person when you're driving...I believe these [driving roles] are the jobs that AI or, let's say, technology should take over...I do agree that there may be some people who love driving as a job, but for the vast majority, I think they would rather do other things. And if technology could take over that, they may be able to actually do those other things instead of being locked into driving.

...I find it funny we're always repeating these tropes about technology...technology is gonna replace us, no. Technologies are task-oriented, while humans are job-oriented. So jobs are more than just tasks, maybe they are a collection of tasks. It's very counterintuitive...for people to think of it that way.

Films have a power to communicate ideas that papers can't, that newspapers can't...because when people are entertained, they're much more engaged. So I think, with regards to entertainment...I wanna see films that are not only entertaining...they have to be entertaining for people to be attentive...but also communicate certain ideas or ideals...towards the Filipino people. What those ideas are, I'm not really sure. But I definitely see films as a way to communicate these. And...I think if we can teach people certain things, certain values through the right films, it'll be great.

Tapos tingin ko yung entertainment, yung future ng mga influencer-type content is yung mga tao na unique. Hindi yung mga reaction vid.

...I mean, in general, tech is really seen...in a subservient role...in this world, like master helper, [and] master slave. I would say like the way tech is presented to us is very much like: "Oh, you are in control of this thing and you can tell it anything you want and it will do anything you want". And I feel like that dynamic has always been present, whether it's been Alexa, Google Home, [and] now, ChatGPT. But I think it's really shifting now to this...[role where it is] not just [seen] as a helper but also potentially [seen] as a peer or co-creator. [For example:] like ChatGPT...the way we engage with it conversationally is like give me ideas for this...because it's so generative. [Comparing] like Alexa, it was limited to commands like "Do this for me" or "Look this up for me", but with ChatGPT...and its perceived intelligence...it's moving from this subservient role to having more...perceived agency and creative freedom. So I think it's moving from something that you have control over to something that you can collaborate with, which I think is no different. But in general, I mean...people always want new technologies to feel familiar, which means to feel human. Like ChatGPT is so conversational, like all these...generative AI image models...the way people engage with them the most right now is [through] AI-generated headshots of themselves...again, something so familiar and so, so serving [of] our own interests...I feel like AI is turning more into a friend than like a servant as it has been in the past.

...The ideal scenario is not that we all have jobs; the ideal scenario is that we have the resources that we need in order to live the way that we want. So, technically speaking, even if I said that...AI is going to like create mass unemployment, if there was a an alternative that allowed people to just live their lives comfortably without working...that's actually the better version of this. In which case, what happens? Well, you work on the thing that you actually care about, right...I guess this is kind of like the future that we see in Star Trek, where...there's no money in Star Trek...at least amongst the [United] Federation of Planets. I have to be very specific here, because...there actually is money in other parts of the Star Trek universe. But [the United Federation of Planets] don't need money anymore, because everyone works on the thing that they want to work [on], and there's resources for everyone. So in a land that is where the resources are plentiful, you don't need jobs or money...the money is kind of our our way to keep score, you see, of which humans deserve more of the resources. And yeah, so in a more ideal world, maybe we don't even need it.