Why AI generated videos feel hypnotic, fluid, and uncanny

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the hypnotic, fluid, and uncanny nature of AI-generated videos, and explores the strengths and weaknesses of AI as an impartial number cruncher in the context of creative expression.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Why AI-generated videos feel hypnotic, fluid, and uncanny

1. What are the key reasons why AI-generated videos have a hypnotic, fluid, and uncanny effect on viewers?

• The videos have a sense of perpetual anticipation and promise, but never deliver on a clear payoff or climax, leaving the viewer in a state of suspense
• The visuals are highly polished and seamless, with no harsh edges, creating a surreal and liminal experience that feels "out of reach"
• The content is chosen to be visually captivating, often presented in slow motion, but lacks a clear underlying intent or purpose beyond the visual appeal
• The AI is delivering what was asked for in the prompt, but not necessarily what the creator intended, leading to a disconnect between the content and the creator's hidden motives and emotions

2. How does the experience of watching AI-generated videos compare to watching human-created videos?

• Human-created videos often have a clear intent, theme, or thesis that the creator is trying to convey, which is embedded in the resulting expression
• AI-generated videos lack this sense of intentionality and instead feel like a blending of various cultural artifacts and viewpoints, without a unifying voice or message

3. What is the role of the prompt in shaping the output of AI video generators?

• The prompt represents the content the AI is asked to generate, but does not necessarily capture the creator's underlying intent, motives, and emotions
• The AI is limited in its ability to extract and understand the creator's true intent from the prompt, and instead delivers a literal interpretation of the prompt

[02] The strengths and weaknesses of being an impartial number cruncher

1. What are the key strengths of AI as an "impartial number cruncher" in the context of creative expression?

• AI lacks many of the "annoyances" of working with humans, such as stubbornness and partiality
• AI is a compliant and obsequious mimic of social artifacts, which can be appealing

2. What are the key weaknesses of AI as an "impartial number cruncher" in the context of creative expression?

• AI's failures can be confusing and feel like the software is "mocking" the user, as it imitates representations without showing an understanding of the underlying message or subject matter
• AI can only ape what it has seen in its training data, and lacks the ability to agree with or express the creator's true intent and values

3. How can AI overcome the limitations of being an impartial number cruncher in creative expression?

• For AI to be better aligned with the creator's intentions, it needs to either have its own intents or be able to extract the creator's intents from the prompt, which is an exceptionally difficult challenge