Fun With A.I. Video

Yeah, I know: A.I. video is scary. We’re rapidly approaching the point (or perhaps we’re already there) where just because you see something happen in a video, that doesn’t mean it happened. I can imagine all kind of ways the technology will be used for nefarious purposes.

On the other hand, A.I. allowed me to create this music video for one of my songs:

That is more or less the visual story I’ve imagined since I wrote that song in my twenties — although I lived in Illinois at the time, so the original was titled Illinois and Cindy.

Some time before I wrote the song, a member of the band I was trying to keep together quit because his new wife didn’t want him spending his evenings practicing or (God forbid) his days traveling to out-of-town gigs. He told me if he’d known that was going to happen before getting married, he might have reconsidered the whole idea of marriage.

I took that as a warning and avoided serious relationships … because by gosh, no girlfriend or wife was going to keep me from pursuing my dream and my destiny. Yeah, the arrogance of youth, eh?

Of course, the thought eventually occurred to me: What if you meet the woman who would have been the love of your life, but refuse to commit so you can pursue a dream that never comes true? That would kinda suck.

Naturally I chose to write a song about it rather than change my attitude. (And of course, when I did meet the love of my life, she was 100 percent supportive of my ambitions. When I quit standup, that was my decision, with no pressure from her.)

Now that I’m no longer wasting my days earning a living, I have time to play with A.I. video tools. At this point, I’m pretty much a newbie, so I’m probably making mistakes. Part of getting the video you want is writing a prompt with enough detail to tell the A.I. engine exactly what you want. I’m getting better at that, but still toss as many clips as I keep, if not more.

The A.I. platforms also produce artifacts and inconsistencies that practically scream THIS VIDEO WAS PRODUCED BY A.I. My cowboy character has a wedding ring. Then he doesn’t. Then he does. The buttons on the side of his hat change or disappear altogether. A truck pulls up apparently driven by nobody. Stuff like that. With enough time and A.I. credits, I’m pretty sure I could fix all that, but since this is more of an experiment than any kind of actual venture, I’m willing to let small stuff go.

A.I. flaws aside, it’s a delight to be able to put something like this together without leaving my desk. The cowboy character was generated from a picture of me in my twenties — although I told the A.I. engine to make him in his thirties and give him a beard. The Cindy character was generated from an old picture of Chareva. I told the A.I. engine to use her face at 50 percent accuracy, and to give her red hair and blue eyes. (I may have a bit of crush on the result.)

When I was nearing retirement, some friends and co-workers asked questions along the lines of Aren’t you afraid you won’t know what to do with yourself all day?

Not a chance. I have a big ol’ toybox available, and I’m happy to spend my days playing with the toys.