There’s admirable, and then there’s David Simon levels of admirable; the creator of The Wire has never been any stranger to having shimmering takes on entertainment and the world that we consume it in, so it’s no surprise that his stance on AI’s presence in the writing world is about as exemplary as it gets.
In a recent interview on NPR’s All Things Considered radio show hosted by Ari Shapiro, Simon made his hatred of AI apparent with the fairly graphic statement of “I would rather put a gun in my mouth” when asked to humor the idea of working with AI to solve a hypothetical screenplay problem, and the transcription has found its way to Twitter.
The transcribed interview on its own gives a pretty strong idea of the levels of vitriol on Simon’s tongue when he was responding, and a quick listen to the original audio all but compounds the sentiment.
Refreshingly, quite a few responders on Twitter were quick to take the writer’s side, some of them armed with all the healthily-channeled sardonicism they could muster.
One user in particular chimed in with a take that rivaled the applause-worthy caliber of Simon’s own sentiments.
Indeed, any truly creative mind could look at AI and immediately recognize the dangers that could come with giving it even an inch in the writing world. Labor and other busywork? Sure. But if the thought of a world where computers make the art while we humans do the work doesn’t scare you, then the thought of having to watch unprecedentedly soulless films and television shows for the rest of one’s life should.
And if neither of those things scare you, maybe your opinion shouldn’t be taken all that seriously.
Published: May 23, 2023 11:52 am