Hey Barack, Let's Not "Leave the World Behind" in 2024
Maybe Younger Generations Have It Right to Move Forward with New Rules of the Game That Include AI & Web3
Barack and Michelle, how could you do this to us? You end 2023 with your first feature film being the deeply pessimistic Leave the World Behind that continues to burn up the Netflix charts (and our peace of mind in the process)? Et tu, Sam Esmail? The story itself had so much promise in your “Mr. Robot”-ian hands. But then you choose to feature a central character who is quite sure his wife just died in a plane crash, yet still finds the time to laugh and dance to jazz with a married woman (while her husband is unaware outside)?
And if that weren’t bad enough (and it should be), you release this tragic tale to all of us who hang on your every word during the holidays knowing that we know that you, Barack, know a helluva lot more about what is “really” going on out there than we do.
So, what exactly is the point here, because my wife and I are massive fans, but she asked me to go stock up on basic essentials at Costco after we watched your coming apocalypse unspool.
Listen, I “get” it. I too am frequently pessimistic about the forces that surround us. Endless wars, suffering and geopolitical risk. Domestic political schisms and unrest. Climate change. And oh yes, then there’s generative AI and the cries of leading tech figures warning of doomer scenarios. I too believe that AI poses significant risks to us all, including all of us in the Hollywood and creative communities (I’ve written about both the opportunities and risks posed by AI frequently during the past year). And while I’ve tried to stay balanced about it all, I tend to stray to the more pessimistic scenarios.
But what if all of us step back and do our best to at least consider alternative mindsets? What if at least some of our seemingly existential risks instead can lead us to a more utopian reality? Perhaps your point, Barack, was not simply to stoke fear, but instead spur us into action – especially action by younger generations.
Let’s face it. It’s understandable why young people have lost faith in the institutions that have ruled the day for decades (I have a 24 and 21 year old myself). Those institutions certainly don’t seem to be working particularly well for them (or for any of us for that matter). Maybe AI will be the great equalizer for them, rather than the great risk that more “traditionalists” like me frequently focus on. Maybe it is possible for AI to free up societies from mundane tasks, increase productivity, and lead to a world where basic fundamental needs of shelter, safety and living standards are met. A resulting universal basic income (UBI) may not be the answer. But perhaps it is? Certainly, the current rules of the game aren’t mean to equalize. So maybe a new generation may leverage the power of AI to create an entirely new “system” that works for them - for their values and their priorities.
Obviously, we can take that more optimistic view of AI to the media and entertainment industry. Yes, massive risk exists, including to the respect for basic artistic creation and copyright protection, not to mention our jobs. But it is also true that AI offers the chance for creativity to become more “democratic.” The world is filled with talent that is not learned in the traditional acts of creation. Now AI may open up the possibility for them to write their own great new songs based on melodies that float in their heads, or to create their own high quality film or video based on fully-formed characters that fill their minds.
And how about Web3’s blockchain, cryptocurrency and the tech formerly known as “nfts” (which are now redefined as being “digital tickets” or “tokens”)? Most traditionalists – code for older generations – are skeptical and downright cynical. While those feelings are understandable in light of the Sam Bankman-Fried scenario, that doesn’t mean that the criminal acts of the few should indict the promise for the many. It’s equally understandable that a new generation may want to move forward with a new economic and financial system that gives them a fighting chance (or at least the hope) of achieving what now seems downright impossible – like buying a house, raising a family, putting their kids through college, and eventually retiring.
In our world of media and entertainment, Web3 still carries the massive promise of connecting creators and their audiences directly, so that the Big Tech middlemen don’t get a substantial piece of every creative work sold simply for providing a transactional layer that is increasingly obsolete. That’s old world thinking in a world that can be properly reimagined, and I continue to believe in the promise that Web3 and the blockchain bring to creators and audiences alike.
And while we traditionalists angst our way through the year with the prospects of social media deep fakes, derision, division, and a criminal returning to the White House, perhaps younger generations will see past all that destructive noise and, once again, surprise us with massive turnout and votes based on fundamental principles of dignity, respect, honor and integrity. We have seen that over and over again in the aftermath of the very old guard Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. Social media certainly seems to be losing at least some of its luster. The “X’ing” out of Twitter serves as Exhibit A.
So Barack, Michelle and Sam, let’s not leave the world behind in 2024. Let’s all do our best to smartly step back from our frequently reflexive pessimism, re-imagine what is possible, and hand over more mindpower – and more actual power – to younger generations who can bring new hope, new values, new mindsets, and new creativity to solve fundamental problems that the old guard certainly has not.
Let’s not fear 2024 and Barack’s dreaded Netflix “end of the world” scenario. Let’s instead more fully embrace Obama’s original message of “Hope” that changed the world in 2008 (that iconic poster is prominently featured in my office as I write this, in fact).
Yes. Yes we can! (Or at least we can try.)