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Hollywood and AI: Donal O’donoghue reboots it out of the park
Pitched the question of whether we’d ever see its likes again, the cast of e Little House on the Prairie were unanimous in their response. No way could the magic of that Seventies show be replicated: the small screen adaptation of the beloved books of Laura Ingalls Wilder was sui genesis, a rare beast in the reign of formulaic fodder. “Who are they kidding?” I thought. In the cold economics of ratings and capitalism (where a fan forks out $665 for a photo with the cast of an ancient show, as they did at the Little House reunion in California last April), nothing is sacred, especially if AI has its way (which it has and increasingly will). is was at the recent Monte Carlo TV Festival,which had previously hosted the bright-eyed casts of such reboots as Magnum PI, Hawaii Five 0 and that time travelling show, Quantum Leap, aka ‘Beckett to the Future’. Imagine what they could do with Manimal or e Incredible Hulk or Glenroe, you wonder. In this so-called Golden Age of TV, the reboot is on the other foot. In the wake of last year’s writer’s strike in Hollywood, the gloves – and the gag – were o in MC as actors, writers, directors and producers spoke about the potential impact of AI on their business. Some, like the cast of e Gray House (as opposed to e Little House) believed that AI could never do their job as it could never have soul. Others, like Mary Louise Parker ( e Gray House) were not so sure, believing that a Gen Z long immersed in the virtual would be unable to tell the di erence between AI and meat-bags on their screens. I mean, how else can we explain the existence of Buying London, a reality show that re ects no reality we have ever known. (Parker didn’t say this, but we, but I’m sure she was thinking it)
e venerable Morgan Freeman didn’t doubt that AI would not just take over Hollywood but would ultimately rule the world and not even God in an otherworldly white suit could stop it. Again, Morgan didn’t quite say this – apart from his belief that relentlessly logical AI, much like every movie super-computer ever, would eventually render humanity redundant, but it was written all over his Zen-like face. AI Armageddon is nigh (and getting nigher, to reboot a Simpsons line)
No folks, AI is here and not going anywhere. And in their hearts, even if they say that they are irreplaceable and ask for a stful of dollars for a sel e with a fan, actors fear the day when Skynet will rule their world and not even John Connors (that’s the guy from the Terminator movies, not the ne Irish actor/writer) can save them from being taken back from the future.