Howdy & welcome to a different version of State of affairs Regular!

Final Sunday, I shared an essay a few topic I’ve been ready 45 years to deal with: center age. Sharing that essay made me really feel much less melancholy about getting older. However what made me really feel higher have been the feedback, particularly the knowledge from older scenario normies who survived center age and lived to snigger concerning the angst I’m at the moment experiencing. The feedback on “Ask Your Pals If Center Age is Proper for You” are 🔥🔥🔥. Examine them out!

In different information, no shout outs right now as a result of there have been no new paid subscribers to State of affairs Regular. Hopefully, a number of scenario normies will treatment that👇

The Writers Guild of America is on strike. The writers are demanding increased pay, extra secure working situations, and clear guardrails round using synthetic intelligence in leisure. All of those points are sophisticated, however my good friend Chris Duffy, who’s a WGA member, has a very good overview of those very affordable calls for in his e-newsletter Vibrant Spots.

I’m not within the WGA, and State of affairs Regular isn’t occurring strike as a result of 1) I personal it and a couple of) this sort of writing isn’t coated by the WGA. However I’ve been considering lots concerning the WGA strike as a result of I consider that what occurs there impacts me in a number of methods. Right here’s a fast checklist:

1. I’ve family and friends who’re WGA members. Their combat is my combat.

2. I’ve family and friends who work in movie and tv and who’re Teamsters or members of IATSE. The WGA combat is their combat, and by extension, their combat can also be my combat.

3. I write novels and publish tales on the web. Generally guild signatory firms choice my materials. If that sounds glamorous or profitable, it’s not. Principally, it’s paperwork, numerous ready, and generally a gathering the place I get a elaborate latte. However earlier than all of that, there may be labor—my labor. The WGA combat is my combat, particularly as a result of my labor is (generally) linked to their labor.

4. Synthetic intelligence. Whereas I’m curious and considerably optimistic about AI instruments, I’m extremely skeptical of a mentality that plans to make use of these instruments towards, nicely, everybody else.

   For causes that aren’t essentially particular to Hollywood, that combat is now, and so, the WGA combat is everybody’s combat.

In fact, there’s a phrase that sums up this checklist. That phrase is solidarity. After I learn what Chris wrote concerning the strike, I emailed him to ask how I might stand in solidarity with the WGA. Chris gave me three recommendations:

1. Use your voice / platform to speak concerning the strike and share your assist for the WGA.

2. Contribute to the Leisure Neighborhood Fund (select “movie and tv” within the dropdown menu). The fund DOESN’T go to writers, however it does go to movie and TV staff who are suffering hardship due to the strike.

3. Stroll a picket line! You’ll need to be in Los Angeles or New York to hitch a WGA picket line, however non-members and non-writers are welcome. Additionally, everybody is de facto pleasant and appreciative of the assist & solidarity.

Clearly, this publish is an instance of solidarity motion merchandise primary. Work is slightly gradual for me for the time being, so I’m skipping choice two (for now). However I’ve obtained time, and I have to get my steps in, so this week I joined Chris at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to stroll the WGA picket line. Good occasions!

Or, for those who use Substack Notes, present solidarity by hitting the Restack button.

Conversations round AI typically revolve round two questions:

1. Can AI substitute human writers?

2. Will AI substitute human writers?

Personally, I believe these are the unsuitable questions. A greater query is that this: do people truly need to learn an AI story? For me, the reply is hell no. Tales aren’t widgets, they’re artwork. And like all artwork varieties, tales are created to talk to the human situation.

A big language mannequin—even one which learns quick and breaks every thing—isn’t human, and no matter it has to say concerning the human situation is bullshit. Really, it’s extra like a mirror picture of bullshit. As a result of the AI doesn’t know something, and it doesn’t really feel something, both. What the AI does is spot patterns, assemble fairly convincing facsimiles of thought, and above all, mirror you again to you. To wit: I requested Bard, Google’s AI, to jot down me a haiku about AI. Right here’s what Bard “wrote”:

I’m a author, not a pc scientist, so possibly my ideas about AI aren’t all that refined. But it surely seems, AI wants me much more than I want AI, a minimum of in keeping with this job posting I discovered on LinkedIn.

Not Protected for Work was written by me, a human, who labored for a number of years as a reporter within the porn trade, wrote a whole lot of shitty pages to hone his craft, and at last produced a comedic thriller about his lived expertise working in Porn Valley on the daybreak of Net 2.0. May an AI do this? The reply isn’t any. Why? As a result of the businesses paying for all these AI instruments have programmed them to refuse assignments that don’t conform to their content material requirements. Fairly dystopian, for those who ask me. Fortunately, it can save you the longer term by buying books written by people👇

Purchase books written by people

1. What’s your favourite film? Trace: it was written by a WGA author.

2. What’s your favourite tv present? Trace: it was written by a WGA author, and maybe a complete employees of WGA writers.

3. What’s your favourite AI-written present, or film? Trace: this can be a trick query.

4. How do you propose to point out solidarity with the WGA?

5. Assume you’ve gotten an annual price range equal to the wage of your common Hollywood CEO. What AI thought would you again?

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