A current topic of controversy is the emergence of Fruit AI and the AI cinema version of Love Island going viral on TikTok, holding a standing of 3.2 million followers in just one week of being active. Some even state that this is the fastest growing TikTok account.
The environmental disadvantages of AI are constantly brought up, and the recent vitality of Fruit AI reveals a new scare: seeing art as replaceable, or replicable. Following Timothée Chalamet’s recent claim about how he “doesn’t want to be working in Ballet or Opera or things where it’s like keep this thing alive even though no one cares anymore”, it reflects how art as an entire field may cease to exist due to a new movement of technology. Although there has been a gradual decline in appreciation of arts, by people being so easily converted into loving AI it sheds light onto what we, as a human species, value in the modern age.
Questions of how Fruit AI went viral continue to float around, some wonder if it’s about doom scrolling, time, accessibility, or just following trends? While some artists such as Zara Larson have received heavy backlash for mentioning that they watch Fruit AI, other influencers such as Alix Earle, whose vitality heavily stems on her TikTok career, didn’t. A heavy debate on whether Zara Larson should be canceled or not has also been a current topic, especially after her apology video on TikTok where she stated that she is “just a girl with a phone”. While some may say that it isn’t that serious, individuals like Zara Larson have the ability to navigate trends, whether it’s dancing in the snow to ‘Midnight Sun’, or saying that it is totally okay to watch Fruit AI, making Fruit AI another easy and accessible trend to hop onto.
Going back six years, when the VSCO girl trend was viral, they focused on “saving the turtles” via metal straws among other things, and now green sea turtles are no longer endangered. Applying the same time stamp, and potential impact, to Fruit AI, with its 3.2 million following, we can expect the same level of impact, but in a way that would harm future generations.
This demonstrates how integral TikTok trends are in shaping how we currently exist, and continue to exist. Trends being so essential to change can thus be transferred to how to make products go ‘viral’ in this new era.
Other arguments in favor of Fruit AI states that not everyone has access to streaming sites such as Hulu that offer shows like Love Island, and thus Fruit AI provides the same level of satisfaction, and by TikTok being so easily accessible, and addictive in nature, it leads younger generations who already have shorter attentions spans to help it go viral.
While precautions by TikTok and Sora AI have been taken – by TikTok removing certain episodes and Sora AI shutting down their video generation tool – the question of how the arts will survive in a pandemic of artificiality continues to be pondered. If emotions or love, can be imitated and artificially created, then how much longer will art exist? Are we choosing convenience and conformity over the beauty that is human emotion?
Source: https://people.com/timothee-chalamet-ballet-opera-controversy-explained-11922867