Artificial Values: Part Two – Interview with Dávid Láposi

As we continue our conversation with Dávid Láposi in the second part of our interview, we delve deeper into the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on film and media productions.

Last week, Dávid’s expert insights shed light on the evolving challenges and opportunities in the industry, offering a forward-looking view on how AI is shaping the future of cinema.

BPR: How influential is AI in your motion picture related work currently?

D. Láposi: I can give you an example from a recent project of mine. I don’t do editing very often, but I had this one project, where the speakers in the video didn’t want to use English but their native language, and then have it translated into English. My approach involved creating a voice clone of the person, enabling them to articulate in English, in a manner reminiscent of how narrators voice over in documentaries. The outcome was well-received, so they asked me about the price. After discussing the standard rates they would pay for sound engineering services, I proposed half of that. They agreed.

There are many such instances. To utilize these AI tools effectively in film production, you don’t necessarily need to know the intricacies of how the AI works or how to program it. Instead, it’s about sifting through the vast amount of information available to select the tool that is most likely to reduce costs or speed up the work. There are thousands of examples like this in filmmaking.

BPR: Are Hungarian professionals aware of the potential impact of AI tools on their work?

D. Láposi: Look, there was a strike in America recently that largely revolved around AI. In Hungary, what most people noticed is that film production just came to a halt; nothing’s happening. There’s not been as much work, so now we’re sort of taking a half-year siesta, Italian style. That’s pretty much the extent of interest in AI in the local scene.

BPR: To what extent can we consider AI a useful tool rather than as a replacement for us?

D. Láposi: We can’t just discuss one segment here because you quickly realize that it doesn’t stop at one. The advent of AI isn’t like the invention of the wheel, which accelerated our transportation from A to B. AI is much more profound than that. The wheel revolutionized a subsegment, transportation, which was a significant problem at the time. But now, I can’t think of anything that AI can’t do. I’d love to have a debate with the readers about whether they can think of something AI will never be able to do, something that is relevant. It’s important to note that relevance is key here.

AI may never become self-aware, but does that matter? I had a conversation recently with my mother about this. I said that consciousness isn’t necessary, but she argued that human consciousness will always be needed. But consider this: if there’s a robot that knows everything about every human thought and expression, instantly accessible on all levels, does it matter if it recognises itself in a mirror? What’s the point of the question if it excels in everything else?

If we consider this in terms of film productions, theoretically, streaming platforms won’t operate as they do now, where films are shot and then released. Instead, you might step on a scale in the morning that measures your mood. You’re subscribed to something called “Mood Booster 2000”, and by two in the afternoon, it creates a movie about kittens because that’s what you need to improve your mood.

Where is the film industry headed? Less filming, I’d say, because these systems will be simpler to use. However, this raises the question of value. What is the value of creating something? What will be valuable? Those are great questions I don’t have an answer to. I think attention is one of the most valuable things right now, but in ten years, it might be water. I’m really open to discuss these deep philosophical opinions with anyone!

BPR: Do you think it’s obvious that someone wanting to work in post-production these days should engage with AI?

D. Láposi: Just today, I had an hour-long conversation with a guy who will be attending my colorist workshop. I told him that I can’t think of anything more important to do right now than familiarizing oneself with artificial intelligence. I believe nothing is more crucial at this moment, whether AI ends up being our downfall or our savior.

In this conversation, and even now, my approach has been very materialistic, and I’m aware of that. We’re not talking about human elements that machines will never possess – love, care, empathy, or a type of understanding that has a soul, not a purpose. Machines, I believe, will never have these, nor is there a goal or function for them to have these qualities. If the world is driven by objectives, currently profit, then the only thing that matters is how you get there. Everything else is a bonus, like a warm tea on a cold day, or a fleeting smile exchanged on the street with a stranger you’ll never meet again.

So yes, I think this is the most important thing. I’m open to and actually encourage dissenting opinions. I really want to hear opposing views. I still enjoy talking to people who see the future more positively from this perspective. Currently, in my life, I can’t say that I’m in that optimistic phase. My fear isn’t that AI is an unpredictable tool; it’s that humans won’t use it correctly, just as we didn’t use the atomic bomb correctly. The global complexities of these issues don’t lie in the ideas themselves but in their application.

BPR: You have started your own AI solutions services, betterCall.ai. What kind of AI services do you offer?

D. Láposi: I’m actually waiting for phone calls from people who are willing to invest in understanding this whole world. They shouldn’t think about immediate results. The goal here is to familiarize ourselves with this new type of wheel, because we’ll never understand its potential if we don’t explore it.

Let me give you an example: If you use ChatGPT, you start asking it questions like the age of a Norwegian king, or which came first, the chicken or the egg? We laugh at how cute it is. But imagine this scenario: I’m standing in an Italian store, surrounded by numerous wines. I know Italians make good wine, but once I accidentally bought a sweet wine because I don’t know enough Italian to distinguish sweet from dry, and they don’t label it. So, I take a photo of the entire shelf, ask ChatGPT, ‘Can you recommend a wine that pairs well with this or that, please?’ And there it is, in the bottom left corner, the AI suggests a couple to try. That’s how versatile AI can be. How is that on the same level as asking which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I think there’s some level of AI solution for everything now. In the last year alone, there were tens of thousands of applications. There are those that everyone knows about – image creation, video creation, text generation – these generative AI examples. And then there are many others that have been around for a while, like emergency systems, various algorithms like Facebook’s – all these are based on artificial intelligence.