I just find it hard to engage with anything AI-made, no matter how good
I don't think this is true for many people.
The best example is the movie industry. Hollywood was using AI (in the form of convolutional neural networks mostly) a decade ago to produce CGI effects for film. The younger versions of the actors in Captain America: Civil War (2016) was basically done with AI. No one outside of movie effects and CGI nerds really cared. They just enjoyed the film because the AI was done well.
When AI is done really well you can't tell. It's similar to good design. If something is designed well you don't notice. You only ever see bad design. Same for AI, you only see it when it's bad.
(Someone will now reply to say they thought the effects in Captain America were terrible, obviously. :) )
That's not what anyone means when they talk about AI.
I wouldn't say the de-aging was done well, at best acceptably. I can only assume you've never watched The Irishman which really highlights the limitations and uncanny valley realms it's in.
It is obvious that the generative AI era is different qualitatively. There are still some developments in non-generative AI that are having positive impacts but I think if you ask most people about what they understand about AI they are alarmed and concerned by it, or bored and depressed with it, on some level. This is caused by Generative AI and it will affect perceptions of all AI tools, causing growing cynicism, and this will rapidly spread to very broad distrust and loathing of the tech industry as a whole. This is not an industry people trust to bring liberating progress anymore; rather they see it as a machine that empowers arrogant, uncultured, fragile middle-aged male overlords.
It may be because I am British and we are cynical about the disruptive confidence of US tech people (especially two or three who loom over our politics, threatening to empower the very worst of them) or it may be that upwards of 90% of my friends are involved in the creative industry in some way, but there is no good feeling at the moment. Nobody is excited about what it will bring, and the interesting thing is that many of my friends who are unaware of the concerns about circular money movements or the AI bubble collapsing have a strong sense that an edifice is going collapse and take a lot of positive things with it.
We are not just heading towards an AI bubble collapse. We are heading towards a collapse in belief in progress at all, because every time we see progress, it is enshittified and "disrupted" by callous forces chained to grotesque private equity firms and the new kings.
The effects in Captain America were terrible - joking! The thing is, AI is plastered everywhere these days on platforms (that were already deteriorating before AI, lets be honest). A lot of people don't want to be bombed with fake content.
A lot of people don't want to be bombed with fake content.
People don't want to be bombed with obviously fake content. If the content is sufficiently good enough for them to accept it they'll happily click Like on it. And that bar is a heck of a lot lower for most people than you'd think. People crave novelty over almost every other attribute of content. They want to see things they've not seen before, and to share those things with their friends so they get the kudos of being the person who discovered something first.
I think this is missing the point - it is a bit like saying "you only ever notice bad fraud, if the fraud is well done you never notice it" - the point is what it is, not whether you notice it or not. With AI in films at the moment there are still people behind, and reviewing, the AI output, so it is just another creative tool, which is fine. However, if someone were to generate an entire 90 minute film and put it online without even having the decency to spend 90 minutes of their own time watching it themselves first, that would not be fine. But that is happening with AI slop on the internet now. Whether it is any good or not is not the point - the point is that it is disrespectful of people's time and attention.
I don't think this is true for many people.
The best example is the movie industry. Hollywood was using AI (in the form of convolutional neural networks mostly) a decade ago to produce CGI effects for film. The younger versions of the actors in Captain America: Civil War (2016) was basically done with AI. No one outside of movie effects and CGI nerds really cared. They just enjoyed the film because the AI was done well.
When AI is done really well you can't tell. It's similar to good design. If something is designed well you don't notice. You only ever see bad design. Same for AI, you only see it when it's bad.
(Someone will now reply to say they thought the effects in Captain America were terrible, obviously. :) )