Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest technological craze – enabling computers to create text, images, audio, and even video in mere seconds from just a short description of what the user wants.

However, like all disruptive technological developments, Generative AI has the potential to cause great harm, according to an expert in the field of game design. Associate Professor Adrian Clark is a lecturer in the University of Canterbury’s School of Product Design who describes himself as “equal parts fascinated and terrified by Generative AI”.

As the technology has improved, the results are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from real media or artistic works created by humans, allowing even the most artistically challenged person to bring their creative ideas to life.

“We’ve seen news stories of people using ChatGPT to cheat on school assignments and DeepFakes used to spread political disinformation and propaganda, but with Generative AI’s intrinsic creative focus the entertainment industries have perhaps the most to lose,” Dr Clark says. These concerns recently reached boiling point, culminating in 2023 with strikes by the Writers’ Guild of America and the Screen Actors’ Guild, both of which were calling for limits in the use of generative AI in their industries.

In his free UC Tauhere Connect public lecture, on Wednesday 1 May at the Dovedale campus lecture theatre, he will explore the subject: What does AI mean for the entertainment industries?

“In this talk, we'll be looking at Generative AI, how it works, what it can do, where it might be heading, and what this all means for the entertainment industries,” Dr Clark says. “We may be standing on the precipice of a new golden age of entertainment and storytelling, or perhaps Pandora’s box been inadvertently opened – never to be closed again.”

About the speaker

Associate Professor Adrian Clark is a lecturer in the University of Canterbury’s School of Product Design, where he teaches Game Design and Development. He is involved in teaching and research related to the Applied Immersive Game Design major in the Bachelor of Product Design degree, and Game Development in the Bachelor of Digital Screen (Honours) degree. With a PhD in Computer Science plus almost a decade of experience working as Head of R&D in a creative tech company he co-founded which worked extensively with film studios, Dr Clark has interests in both the technical and artistic sides of the creative industries.

UC Tauhere Connect public talk: What does AI mean for the entertainment industries? Presented by Associate Professor Adrian Clark, School of Product Design, Engineering, University of Canterbury, 7pm – 8pm, Wednesday 1 May 2024, in the Otakaro 146 Lecture Theatre, Dovedale campus, University of Canterbury, Christchurch. Register to attend free at: www.canterbury.ac.nz/ucconnect.
It’s free to register to attend in person, to watch via Facebook livestream or view later on YouTube. Videos of UC Tauhere Connect public talks are available usually a week after the live event. Watch previous Tauhere Connect talks here.