u/Tommytrist

So I know there's been a discussion/post on this topic already, but I've been doing a lot of thinking about the use of AI in the Can't Get Over Losing You music video.

I want to preface this by stating that I think there is a role in utilizing AI in art if it's done with intention by the artist. I think the uncanniness of it can be harnessed to create a unique vibe. Plastekpet's work is off-putting and unsettling because the imagery the AI creates is almost impossible to imagine being made with a human hand. If you look closely, the logic and physics of his videos fall apart; it's like looking at a fever dream. Similarly, Igorrr's ADHD justifies its use of AI:

>We explored the possibilities of AI for this new Igorrr music video: "ADHD". We embraced almost all existing tools, both proprietary and open source, diverting and mixing them with our 3D tools. This video is a symbolic journey into an experimental therapy for treating a patient with ADHD, brimming with nods to "Very Noise".
We know the use of AI in art might be polemic right now, plus we with Meat Dept actually started the clip in 3D, like we did for Very Noise, but at some point we were laughing so hard trying to do creepy things in AI that the clip ended as a mix of both technologies. The music, however, is 100% homemade.

While I don't have definitive proof, it seems like a lot of the key art in The Avalanches' Can't Get Over Losing You music video uses AI-generated visuals edited into the video. The witch cat, the hands, the anime face, a lot of the little characters singing along. I actually really like the overall theme of the video - sanitized corporate characters manipulated into trippy psychedelic visuals. But my issues stem from the lack of artistic integrity.

The Avalanches got their start in Plunderphonics - a genre built on sampling other artists' work to create a collage of musical noise. There's an argument to be made that AI is similarly built on sampled work, but many would argue that it is instead built on stolen work. This stolen artwork (or words or music) is blended together to create a sanitized, blank prediction machine - there's minimal human touch behind an AI-generated image. While plunderphonics is built on other people's art, it takes incredible skill and intention to make a cohesive piece, as evident by the multidecade process behind The Avalanches' first two albums. I don't think AI is used in a way that's interesting here. It looks shoddy, like a first draft of a bad animation was included in the video. I personally think using AI like this and not being upfront about it lacks integrity. Why should I care about your music video when I can't tell which parts were created by humans and which parts by machine?

I'm personally saddened to see The Avalanches pursue this direction in their art. Some of their early music videos MADE them - Frontier Psychiatrist and Since I Left You are so deeply human and touching and silly and memorable. This music video is just nothing. Just a trippy slideshow of AI imagery.