ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

IDEAS

So Generative AI Can Write. But Surely Our Poetry Is Worth More Than That

Poets should not be threatened by the fact that every person with internet access can now create the poetic equivalent of hotel art. Although it involves technique, poetry is not a technical problem. - The Walrus

Deepfakes Are Scary. But “Cheapfakes” Are All Around Us

Long before generative AI became widely available, people were making “cheapfakes” or “shallowfakes.” It can be as simple as mislabeling images, videos, or audio clips to imply they’re from a different time or location, or editing a piece of media to make it look like something happened that didn’t. - Wired

Odd? More Than 1,200 Scientists Are Now Publishing New Research Papers Once Every Five Days On Average

In 2022 alone, 1,266 non-physics authors published the equivalent of one paper every 5 days, including weekends, compared with 387 in 2016. The accelerated growth since 2016 was surprising because an earlier analysis showed that extreme productivity was beginning to plateau in 2014. - Nature

We’re Distracted. So Now Watching A Movie Seems Like An Accomplishment Equal To Reading A Book?

You know what watching a movie felt like to my easily-distracted hamster brain? It felt like an accomplishment. It felt smart. It felt like a spa day for my skull. It felt like…finishing a book. - The Wall Street Journal

The Purest Reflection Of Messy Existence

"If you want to know who someone truly is—what they eat, what books they read, what movies they watch, or how furious they get inside their own minds—you should probably check their Notes app." - Wired

We May Be Losing The Cultural Language Of Disney

Disney turned 100 in 2023 (as you've no doubt heard ad nauseam). Its founder's "legacy was the production of a modern shared language, a set of reference points instantly recognizable to almost everyone, and an encouragement to dream out loud about a utopian future." - The New York Times

The Rare Pandemic Moment When The U.S. Government Was Generous To The Arts

At the Alley Theatre in Houston, "when the PPP money was announced, which was just within about a couple of weeks of laying everybody off, we realized that we could bring everybody back and pay them for their time off. And we did that." - NPR

You Might Think There Aren’t Wardrobe Supervisors For The Reality Show Survivor

You'd be very, very wrong. "Jeff Probst, the host of Survivor and its executive producer and showrunner, said clothing was at the foundation of the show’s premise." - The New York Times

Will AI Turn The Web Into Fodder?

If ChatGPT reproduces news updates, what reason is there to click on the original? How many times have you Googled for more information after reading a headline on an elevator or taxicab screen? - The Atlantic

Creative Disruption That Creates More Than It Destroys

Firms that generate nondisruptive creation lead with agency. Rather than start with the chessboard, they envision what could be and what should be, irrespective of what is. They flip the script, openly questioning and reimagining all the things that those who lead with structure accept as givens. They ask: Why not? What if? - Harvard Business Review

Do You See/Hear/Smell What I Do? (Probably Not)

New research is uncovering the hidden differences in how people experience the world. The consequences are unsettling. - Aeon

The Skeptical Neurologist: Does Simply Visiting A Museum Provide Health Benefits?

The question is whether art exposure, alone, is enough to reap its benefits. In other words, does the simple fact of being in contact with art have specific effects? - The Conversation

A Difference Of Opinions Is Not Fatal (Or Shouldn’t Be)

The most obvious pitfall of contrarianism is that, just like following the crowd, it outsources your judgement to others, albeit in rejection rather than acceptance. It’s also impractical. - The Critic

The Rise Of YouTube Charity Porn. Philanthro-tainment?

Charity content on YouTube and most recently TikTok has always been a formulaic and nearly surefire way to gain likes and views. While these videos are praised for their clear attempts at making the world a better place, none are without disapproval. Critics have called this “philanthro-tainment” uncomfortable, ungenuine and even sinister. - USCAnnenberg Media

How To Think About Our Marriage With Technology

At its simplest, technology can be understood as a tool which enables us to reach a particular end; a chimp using a stick to extract honey from a tree trunk, for example, a means to an end. That approach is crucial to our perception of the place of technology in the modern world. - 3 Quarks Daily

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