There is breaking news about artificial intelligence (AI) and computers taking jobs. This may be a bit difficult for some to stomach, but Business Insider says it is a true story. A story-book story of a girl writ large. She is an out-of-nowhere unknown making a splash on social media. She is way younger than I am, earns six figures, and has way more followers on Instagram (she is, literally, "Internet famous"). Of course, Leah Kate assures us that "No one (is really impressed) if you're internet famous," but really?
Aitana Lopez is everything everyone wants to be. She is hip, happening, successful, popular. For those of you that have been popular, well good for you. For the other 98% of us, it is perhaps hard to imagine how someone can be so vibrant, young, and happening. She claims to be 25, but was born a few months ago. The good news is that Aitana is not real. No, literally, she is made up. She was generated by AI just as sure as so many others were created by Hollywood, Instagram, and home video. In a word, Aitana is an image.
AI was engaged by "a Spanish agency that grew tired of booking real models." That sounds like a dig on models. Some of the comments from the agency are telling. The founder says the agency had challenges with models. There were conflicts with the "influencer(s) or model(s)" and "many projects were being put on hold or canceled. People, you see, can have a variety of commitments, personalities, distractions, and temperments. They are, after all, "only human."
The agency figured out it "could make a better living and not be dependent on other people." Those people, it complained, "who have egos, who have manias, or who just want to make a lot of money by posing." Imagine people just wanting the money. See Hip to Be Square (August 2023). Yeah, that posing sounds pretty easy. Ever wonder why we are not all getting rich from the process (hint, no one wants to look at a picture of me).
So, the AI created the photos of Aitana. These included some that were perhaps risque, but that is not entirely clear. Apparently, some of them were posted on something called "Fanvue," which the story says is similar to the "only fans" that has caused some issues with people's day jobs in places like Missouri, Australia, and Canada.
Even on the more ubiquitous Instagram, some of the "story" lines are apparently geared toward the consumer. Aitana goes to trendy places, drinks trendy cocktails, and engages in trendy activities like "going to the gym." She is essentially "based on what society likes most." That is easy to achieve in the world of fiction and make-believe. But what is real is that she is generating about $11,000 per month for the agency that created her.
This may come as a shock. Or, it may be deja-vu. See, a major strike just concluded in Hollywood. It centered, in part, on studios using Artificial Intelligence to enhance, replicate, and leverage the talent of actors. Some feel that the AI threat to the acting profession is "existential." If they film a star, per the recent contract, they will have to be upfront on how they use that footage thereafter. The talent pictured in that article notes that "AI is not art." Aitana might disagree.
In that recent actor contract, according to the Los Angeles Times, studios will now have to "obtain permission from actors in order to create a 'digital replica' of them." And, the "performer" must then be "compensate(d) . . . appropriately whenever it’s used." Some see this as a huge contract concession by the studios. Others note that "companies could refuse to hire performers who won’t consent to digital replication." (Like they have refused for years to hire actors who wanted more money than the producers would pay). Well, as John Mayer noted, "Welcome to the real world" (No such thing, 1999).
Before you feel too sorry for those actors, know that this is a fact of life for millions, perhaps billions, of workers around the world. Employers of all shapes and sizes express conditions to the contract of employment. They do not hire people who smoke, who are overweight, who like to go to protests, who say things about them on social media, and more. What if you won't agree to work the night shift? Holidays? Oh, there are buckets of things one might be forced to give up for a particular job in America. And workers in this country are far more protected than those in many venues.
An actor union representative, speaking on the acting AI dispute and the new contract contends that “Consent at the time of employment isn’t consent.” He stresses that conditions on employment are instead "coercion." He claims that actors will have to consent, or they will not work. To work, he predicts "you’ve got to give them the right to replicate you.” Oh, Brave New World (Aldous Huxley, 1931). Sort of like those who have to give up smoking, wear particular uniforms, work weekends, and a slew of other workplace conditions.
It is important, as regards the Hollywood contract, to remember we are not talking about the big names (Tom Cruise $100 million in 2022; Wil Smith $35 million, Leonardo DeCaprio and Brad Pitt $30 million). It may be hard for us to identify with millionaires. The average pay for an "extra actor" in Hollywood is about $22.00 per hour. These are working folks, not millionaires from Malibu. But nonetheless, they seem to think that AI is specific to them, employment conditions are specific to them, and challenges are specific to them. They are likely mistaken.
Well, Aitana may or may not be art, but with 124,000 Instagram followers, and a $132,000 annual income, the AI is successful, popular, and some might argue just as "real" as the various people in Hollywood with their contrived stories, consultant-created images, trainers, therapists, and airbrushed photos.
Is Aitana really news? Are models really that hard to get along with? I don't know any well, so I am at a loss here. Employees? Those can be a challenge. See, the thing all employees have in common is that they are human. They are imperfect, fallible, and prone to error and mistake (this includes me).
Humans easily fall prey to such complications as missed buses and malfunctioning autos. Humans persistently strive to interact with each other, converse, and even daydream. Some get distracted at work by their email, texts, and Instagram stories. They are prone to become ill, require dental care, and want to care for family. Imperfect, distracted, and challenging. But, in a word, human.
See, Aitana is an advantage to her creators. She never needs a day off for a sick child. She never has a bad day. Aitana is at their beck and call with a click or two. She will wear what they want, pose as they want, and will do it with never a discouraging word, gesture, or attitude. She will be perfect, until she is not. When she is not, they will make up another one (remember _______ who used to be in all those movies and then just seemingly disappeared?).
Is it any different in any business? Is there some reason why computers might only take over the role of models and influencers? Will they leave the rest of us alone? No, Virginia, the computers are not just here to take from the pretty people.
Remember when the Chatbot was winning legal cases? Remember when self-check-out lanes were the rage? Remember in 2017 when I told you that AI and robots are coming for your jobs? See Nero May Be Fiddling (April 2017). Remember Mr. Go? Yes, you can say that AI is troubling you. You can claim tech advances are unprecedented. But no, you cannot say I didn't tell you so. I did. Repeatedly. What do you say to a guy with two black eyes? Nothing, he didn't listen the first two times. How many times must tech, or Hollywood, slap you in the face?
The Spanish agency that created Aitana, "The Clueless," is not alone. Business Insider says that these AI model creations are increasing. There will undoubtedly be virtual recording artists, movie stars, and more. They will repeat lines written by computers, and the output will be edited and finished by computers.
Programs will design media campaigns and promotions, and hordes will follow, endorse, and consume them. They will measure how we react, what we find valuable, and what draws our eyes. They will manipulate us, entice us, guilt us, cajole us. And we will consume it. We have been following Madison Avenue for decades. If they can make The Polar Express (Warner Brothers, 2004) with Tom Hanks, trust me they can as easily make it without him. Undoubtedly, if they can make a star out of Nicholas Cage (Francis Ford Coppola's nephew) they can make a star out of Aitana. She does not need a rich, famous, and helpful family member, she has economics on her side.
If social media has taught us nothing else, we know that people will consume it. If they will eat at a restaurant because PewDiePie did, they will eat at a restaurant because Aitana says she did. The problem is not with the herders folks. We sheep are to blame. Maybe Leah Kate has a point and "Life sux?"
