Thoughts on AI remastered video of GD shows

Why does Jerry look like David Allan Coe?

weird

Progress

It's funny, I belong to a group of Beatles fans who spend a great deal of time tracking down full analog tube pressed copies of their albums "to be closer to how they sounded in the studio" We eschew added digital steps on principle... (I personally don't get too carried away there, letting my ears decide)

oddly enough, this same group is carrying on about how incredible the new Beatles Anthology looks with its upscaling and visual upgrades... to me, they look like Polar Express characters with, as Quint would say, "black, lifeless eyes, like a dolls eye..."  seems like this purist mentality of getting as close as you can to the band only applies to sonics?? 

AI is the next step from the internet in the chain that will eventually consume society one day

recreate some Avalon shows and we'll talk.... 

>>>>>AI is the next step from the internet in the chain that will eventually consume society one day

Yup. Will Trump/Putin kill us off in 3 years, or will AI do the job in 10, or will climate change get us all in 20?

Get your bets down.

The situations into which the product of mechanical reproduction can be brought may not touch the actual work of art, yet the quality of its presence is always depreciated. This holds not only for the art work but also, for instance, for a landscape which passes in review before the spectator in a movie. In the case of the art object, a most sensitive nucleus – namely, its authenticity – is interfered with whereas no natural object is vulnerable on that score. The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced. Since the historical testimony rests on the authenticity, the former, too, is jeopardized by reproduction when substantive duration ceases to matter. And what is really jeopardized when the historical testimony is affected is the authority of the object.

One might subsume the eliminated element in the term “aura” and go on to say: that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. This is a symptomatic process whose significance points beyond the realm of art. One might generalize by saying: the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence. And in permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his own particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced. These two processes lead to a tremendous shattering of tradition which is the obverse of the contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind. Both processes are intimately connected with the contemporary mass movements. Their most powerful agent is the film. Its social significance, particularly in its most positive form, is inconceivable without its destructive, cathartic aspect, that is, the liquidation of the traditional value of the cultural heritage. This phenomenon is most palpable in the great historical films. It extends to ever new positions. In 1927 Abel Gance exclaimed enthusiastically:

“Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Beethoven will make films... all legends, all mythologies and all myths, all founders of religion, and the very religions... await their exposed resurrection, and the heroes crowd each other at the gate.”

Presumably without intending it, he issued an invitation to a far-reaching liquidation.

– "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin (1935)

–– https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm

I'm waiting until I can set it to show me the show from where my seats were, or even better that perfect memory drug everyone was addicted to in one of those sci-fi shows I watched.

No reason we can't have Putin/Trump, AI, and Global Warming all at once. 

way I see it we are basically burning the planet down in a race to create as much of the worst thing ever invented as we possibly can

buckle up kids!

watching the boys slowly transform into other people or faceless visages is a bad trip waiting to happen 

AI presents some real threats but, IMHO, this video is not one of them.  I'm missing the creepiness.  Seems like a great audio and good video representation of what went down.

Watched it on the big screen last night and it was mostly like a video game. I would choose the original video over this. 

My real take away was what the hell was up with Bob's song choice in that set. He seemed determined to suck the air out of the room every chance he got. I remember the rumor at the time was that Bob and Mickey went skiing that day in Vermont and were tired at show time. 

So, you're saying that AI was used to clean up the picture quality here?
I just jumped around to try to find anything smacking of fake looking visual, did not notice any.

I guess if it's doing nothing to screw with the vibe of the picture, what's the issue?
Haven't we been cleaning up sound for decades? It's like removing the "tape hiss" visually.

I'm not a fan of completely fabricated deep fake AI video, but how is this not the best possible use of that tech?

This thread reminds me of discussions about lossy vs. non-lossy audio formats, except in the case of AI, we're looking at additions to the source material rather than reductions. Whether AI or MP3, we're moving away from the source, and further away from authenticity. Colorized pics are another example of this trend. Am I looking at the original image, or someone's impression of it?

I agree, I indicated above it's interesting to note the irony in my trading circle how everyone talks gushingly about analog tube cut vinyl pressings and AI scrubbed video in the same breath. Not everything needs to be altered just because you can... the updates to the Star Trek OS Enterprise are jarring, like the changes made to Star Wars original trilogy... I'm a Noir fan, atmosphere is everything 

hadn't intended to click on the link but as the discussion evolved so has the intrigue...

> how is this not the best possible use of that tech?

I think putting AI to work on things like disease eradication and more efficient energy production and consumption would be a better use than cleaning up videos.