The Arts Fuse Newsletter, October 16
Coming Attractions, Reviews of "The Apprentice" and "Nassim," and a Fist Pump for the French Recording label Chateau de Versailles Spectacle
From The Editor's Desk:
Dead critics will never die, thanks to AI. The London Standard recently generated a mini brouhaha when it posted a review of an exhibition of Van Gogh in London by art critic Brian Sewell, who had died at the age of 84 in 2015. The stunt was greeted with the expected derision, but the newspaper’s CEO saw the writer’s resurrection as part of a plan to be “bold and disruptive,” an innovative strategy that recently included the elimination of 150 employees, including 70 members of the Standard’s editorial staff.
Not everyone is laughing. The act has generated some pointed philosophical critiques. They include accusations of machine-led “de-humanization.” “Because so much about ourselves as human beings — what we think, what we believe, what we love or whom we love — can be reduced to AI data points,” writes Maria Serban, “we are in a sense broken apart or fragmented by it. As such, training an AI system on Sewell’s collected writing splinters the person he once was.” Even more frightening — given what it portends for the future of civilization — is the elimination of authenticity, driven by a breakdown of trust in who (or what) will or can distinguish between truth and lies. As we asked in the ‘80s, "Is it live or is it Memorex?” Perhaps those in-the-know will only be those who own the keys to AI: the rich, the powerful, and the authoritarian.
Stepping from the apocalyptic to the now, Steve Provizer has sent in a petition to writers for The Arts Fuse, asking if they share his alarm that “banks of AI computers have and continue to gobble up (‘train’ on) millions of copyrighted works without paying a fee. The authors whose works they have used to construct their ‘large language models’ may or may not be cited or may be incorrectly cited. Writers have no say in how their words will be used. They may be distorted or taken out of context to disseminate false, misleading or defamatory information.” Provizer is far from alone. The Authors Guild recognizes out-and-out piracy when it sees it. In September of 2023 the organization filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming it should have paid a licensing fee for any work not in the public domain. Some writers I have talked to dismiss the danger of AI; they assume that somehow, someway, what’s good for corporations and the uber-rich will be good for the business of writing.
They are wrong. Provizer nails the bottom line: “All writers, indeed artists of any kind, should have the right to decide when their work can be used to train AI and should be compensated for that use.” You will be reading more in the magazine about this issue, its threat to writing, criticism, the arts, and the independence of thought.
—Bill Marx, Editor-in-Chief
Archive: From the Editor's Desk
Coming Attractions: October 13 through 28 — What Will Light Your Fire
Compiled by Arts Fuse Editor
Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.
Film Review: “The Apprentice” — Marinating in Malignance
By Michael Marano
It’s Jeremy Strong’s portrayal of Roy Cohn that hangs in this not-very-good movie like a Rembrandt on the cracked plaster of a La Quinta suite by the airport.
Television Review: “Witches: Truth Behind the Trials” — Just the Facts
By Sarah Osman
There are valuable lessons here, but I are afraid that this docuseries will be overlooked among all the more enticing, and sensationalized, witchy watchings.
Book Review: “Blue Light Hours” — Unimpeachable Noticing
By Kai Maristed
Bruna Dantas Lobato’s sensibility is unmistakably original: she explores her protagonist’s life and surroundings like a dowsing rod, poking into closets, corners, and cupboard.
Jazz Album Review: Andrew Hill’s “A Beautiful Day, Revisited” — Well Worth the Return Trip
By Michael Ullman
The recording proves to be both an excellent example of Andrew Hill’s unusual creative methods, particularly the wonderful results he managed to get with ensembles
Opera Album Reviews: A Major Classical Label Arises — Four More Fine Baroque Operas
By Ralph P. Locke
Each of these four works has its own flavor, and lovers of Baroque and Classic-era music will happily scoop up one or more of the recordings.
Theater Review: “Nassim” — Word Play
By Robert Israel
The script is an experiment, a (sometimes) witty lecture on language. But it doesn’t work dramatically.
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Editor-in-Chief
Bill Marx
wmarx103@gmail.com
