Let this be a warning to you all: if you suddenly find yourself advocating for the use of AI in the arts sector (as anything more than an extremely supplementary tool), you’ll find no ally in Helen Mirren. In fact, you just might make a new enemy.
Per Variety, after accepting a lifetime achievement award from the one and only Harrison Ford at the American Cinematheque Awards last Thursday, Mirren began to read her “acceptance speech” off a sheet of paper. She then revealed that it was written by an AI program before cathartically ripping it to shreds, which earned her applause from those present.
The speech in question, which she delivered with a gleefully sarcastic blend of mirth and theatricality, read “Ladies and gentlemen and esteemed guests and dear friends, I am deeply humbled, profoundly honored to stand before you today accepting this extraordinary award. To be recognized for a lifetime devoted to the craft of acting is a privilege beyond words. First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the industry and the individuals who have supported me throughout this incredible journey. It is has been a life filled with passion, challenges, and above all, an unyielding love for the art of storytelling.”
Well, Helen, we are in turn profoundly honored to have witnessed you stick it to the man (machine?) in a way that only an artist could. It “is has” been a moment filled with an unyielding, violent-when-necessary love for the art of storytelling, which AI will never be able to truly replicate.
Indeed, Cillian Murphy put it best in suggesting that AI will never be able to perfectly replicate the nuances of actual humans. Imperfection, after all, is the key ingredient to each and every one of us.
(featured image: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
