On The Good Place, D’Arcy Carden played Janet, a being artificially created by the afterlife. However, the actress might not be too fond of artificial creation in real life. In a promotion for her new film Sketch, Carden discussed her thoughts on how generative AI has “gone so far.”
D’Arcy Carden: “We’ve Gone So Far”
In a CBR Presents interview, Carden was asked how playing Janet might have affected her views on the current artificial intelligence boom that we are experiencing. She stated:
“It made me feel a certain kind of way, like about Alexa and about sort of like the voice that talks to you in your car and things like that I was, but I think we’ve gone so far. We’ve gone so far . . . And the AI, Chat GPT, that world, I’m not feeling such a connection with Janet, like which maybe that’s just me not diving into that world as much.”
However, she also added, “there was something about when I was doing The Good Place, like any robot that I encountered or watched or heard about, I did sort of put a soul into.” In the current climate of artificial intelligence becoming smarter than ever before, the favorite sci-fi philosophical question of whether or not an artificial being can have a soul seems more relevant than ever.
Artificial Intelligence and Film
The rise of artificial intelligence stimulates plenty of ethical questions as well as philosophical ones. According to CBR.com, films like The Enternaut and The Brutalist have controversially utilized AI in their production. The Brutalist was especially controversial since it supposedly used artificial intelligence to generate some of its dialogue, and yet it still managed to be nominated for Oscars. In addition, it’s been rumored that even Disney has considered AI use for its upcoming film Tron: Ares and the upcoming live-action Moana remake.
What is the Plot of the Film Sketch?
Carden’s new movie Sketch tells the story of a young girl whose sketchbook falls into a magical pond. This causes the monsters that she draws to spring out of the sketchbook and wreak havoc on the real world. The movie debuted to a 97% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it is currently playing in theaters. According to D’Arcy Carden, the movie reminded her about the importance of drawing and how sad it is that people stop drawing when they grow up. Perhaps the movie will inspire people to create art by hand instead of asking an AI to do it for them.
