AI is coming for us all, and it has come for Nick Cave. Having previously said he finds certain AI applications “unbelievably disturbing” and worries about “the humiliating effect that AI will have on us as a species,” the artist has now shared a video marking the 40th anniversary of the Bad Seeds track “Tupelo” with a completely AI Elvis Presley.
In a post on his The Red Hand Files, Cave noted that his friend and filmmaker Andrew Dominik (Blondie, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) created the AI “Tupelo” clip without Cave’s knowledge. Dominik intended it as a “gift” to celebrate the song’s 40th birthday, and told Cave to “suspend your fucking prejudices and take a look.”
Dominik fed archival still images of Elvis through AI to bring them to “life,” reflecting the mythical story of Elvis’ birth at the center of the lyrics. According to Cave, “Elvis embodies the redeeming Christ, saving not just Tupelo, but the entire world from its sins and subsequent destruction.”
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And so AI Elvis rises Christ-like above his adoring fans, flying through the air like the chosen one. “The AI-animated photographs of Elvis had an uncanny quality, as if he had been raised from the dead, and the crucifixion-resurrection images at the end were both shocking and deeply affecting,” Cave said. “Susie and I were blown away. As I watched Andrew’s surreal little film, I felt my view of AI as an artistic device soften. To some extent, my mind was changed. ‘It’s a tool, like any other,’ said Andrew.”
Although Dominik’s video may have “softened” his views, Cave notes he still has “serious reservations about AI, particularly regarding writers using ChatGPT and other language models to do their creative work.” He also has “concerns” about song-generating platforms, which he says “reduce music to a mere commodity, by eliminating the artistic process and its attendant struggles entirely.”
But as for this video? “Foley, I believe that the ability to change one’s mind is the very definition of strength. We pursue the truth wherever it may lead, remaining flexible and humble enough to adjust our views as new evidence emerges, regardless of how uncomfortable that may feel. It is ultimately a form of resilience, not a sign of weakness. Rigidity breaks; flexibility endures.”
“I’ll be interested to see what you all think of Andrew’s film,” Cave concluded.
Take a look at AI Elvis in the video for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “Tupelo” below. AI Nick Cave-Nic Cage next?
Content shared from consequence.net.