Acting & AI

What the heck-a-doodle

Seems to be a lot of talk these days about what our industry will look like in 5 or 10 years time

Due to the incredible developments in AI

And I guess that comes with good reason

I now have a virtual friend who I can have pretty in-depth conversations with about how to build the perfect fragrance collection

It’s pretty bananas

And when I listen to people who have stood in empty warehouses in LA

Who are very much behind the scenes in those big production meetings about the future of film & television

Yep

One thing is certain

Change is happening

What that change is going to look like exactly?

No one can say for sure

But with change

Of course

Comes fear for us humans

So I believe that over the next few years

It will be a totally reasonable prediction

That we see an uptick in fear

And that’s okay

In fact

Sounds pretty human if you ask me

Imagine our ancestor Doug

Sitting at a waterhole

He does the same thing most days

Then suddenly

You tell him that his cave might be different tonight

The location for berries is now somewhere other than where he normally goes

The herds of gazelle have moved on

And there is ooga-booga talk of a new pride of lions in the area

Yep

That is a lot of change

A lot for his body to have to deal with

In order to try survive another day

Damn sure he would be feeling afraid

But

Guess what happens when Homo sapiens are forced into a new situation?

They adapt

That is one thing we have done damn well since the beginning of our time on this planet

So how do we adapt to the changes that AI will bring?

Firstly

We want to embrace change without losing our humanity

It would be very easy to put all of your focus back onto what you think will please the industry

Please the algorithms

Give bland work that you think will make everyone else happy

No no no

Let’s get clear

Let’s start again

For the vast majority of the homo sapien experience

The meaning of life has been to simply survive

Why?

Because it has been so bloody difficult

A human being out in the wild is a bloody fragile creature

So what helped us go from the middle of the food chain to the top?

Connection

Humans connecting allowed for protection, support and more resources

And therefor a higher likelihood of being able to watch the next sunrise

Now

The important part

(This is where we as actors come in)

What helped us connect?

Stories

Meaningful stories

Something that has not been lost over our time as Homo sapiens

Is our ability to share meaningful stories

Which help the tribe connect

And therefore survive another day

Now

How have we told meaningful stories?

Dancing, singing, painting, movement

Writing, spoken word, acting, poetry

Filming, editing, animation

And damn sure

No matter how much I might poo-poo social media

I have watched Tiktoks, instagram clips or YouTube shorts

Which have flooded me with hope about life in just a mere 5-10 seconds

My point?

The HOW keeps changing

The WHY never has

Who the hell knows how we will be sharing meaningful stories in 10 years time

But damn sure

We will be sharing them

We will be having some level of influence over stories shared in society

We will contributing toward meaningful stories

Which will help the tribe connect

And therefore help the species survive another day

Our next challenge…

How do we do this in a sustainable way?

How do we make progress

Work toward meaningful goals in a way that continues to feeds us?

Its a very important question to address

For an actor to place all of their focus onto trying to please the industry

To shift all of their thinking toward what will please the algorithm

Man

That sounds exhausting

I do a lot of guiding of artists & performers

Both professionals

As well as students at drama schools

And the second I see them shifting their goals toward what they think will please the industry

I see the joy evaporate

I see the exhaustion creep in

And I see their sustainability as artists plummet.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in Southern Africa

Where the lion trackers had an expression

“I have no idea where I’m going

But I know how I’m going to get there”

I lion tracker can’t spend their time walking toward where they think the result might be

They have to follow the tracks

One track at a time

And in our case

As artsits

How do we find these tracks?

Simple

We go back to listening to our bodies

What makes your body feel alive?

What is the work that inspires you most?

What is the art that makes you feel like life is worth living?

When we give up on working toward the goals we think we should

In order to please the industry

And instead

Focus on following the work that makes our bodies feel most alive

That’s when flow creeps back in

That’s when the work becomes fun again

That is when I start to see artists playing again

Focussing on enjoyable processes rather than results

And that is when they become bloody dangers

That is when I see them starting to provide bloody generous work to the industry

And that’s the work the industry not only wants

But needs

There are endless amounts of sheep trying to give work that will please

But the work that is truly valued

Is the work that comes deep from someones humanity

And the way to find that

Is by letting the body lead again

To let it guide us

As it has done so well, for so long

Okay

My daughter is waking up from her nap

Let’s wrap this up

The industry will always be changing

Sometimes faster

Sometimes slower

But change is inevitable

And with change comes fear

Remember

It’s normal and totally okay to feel afraid on reaction to change

But you do have a choice

A choice to bring your focus back onto what matters

Contributing human work to meaningful stories

And how do you do that?

By doing the most human of all

Giving your body permission to lead

Letting it move in the direction of what makes you feel most alive

Hope this helps

X