"I’m somebody who catastrophizes at the drop of a hat": Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker on AI, tech, and creativity

Charlie Brooker once gave the world a glimpse into the dystopian future that people would have subconsciously avoided. Fast-forward a decade, we are in the midst of something dangerous brewing, as indicated by many theorists and experts. With AI slowly taking over some of the smaller jobs, and creative prospects looking dim in front of the mighty machine churning out content, Brooker opened up on Recode Media podcast about his take on the changing scenario.

He also expressed that this changing scenario around the world has also affected his views on technology significantly. He said:

"I love technology, I love computers,...But I’m also a natural worrier. I’m somebody who catastrophizes at the drop of a hat. And so I’m often worried when some new development or gizmo will give us power, and the responsibility that comes with that. And how easy it is to misuse that, or the unintended consequences or obvious clumsy consequences. ... Usually our technologies give with one hand and sort of slap us round the back of the head with the other."

In fact, Black Mirror's latest season offered a glimpse into what the world of entertainment could look like. It was not long after that Hollywood actors went on a protest against studios who were planning to own the actor's likeness forever.

Charlie Brooker also discussed other such matters and his show Black Mirror in the podcast, giving a glimpse into the mind of the genius creator who has somewhat seen visions of these realities for quite some time.

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Charlie Brooker worries about the "impact on employment" in the future as the development of AI progresses

Charlie Brooker went over various topics in the podcast, from talking about Black Mirror and its association with depression and dystopia to the future of AI and its impacts on the human lifestyle. As most readers know, many jobs have been replaced by computers over the years, but no threat was bigger than an artificial intelligence that can almost compute like the human mind.

On asked what Charlie Brooker thinks of AI, or more specifically if he thinks its a threat or a blessing, he replied:

"I think it’s kind of both. The thing that actually depresses me almost more than anything else is — I’ve got two kids and one of them is 9 years old and he’s getting into drawing and he’s good....And then the next thought that arrived was, “Yeah, but I mean, being an illustrator, that’s no career path these days, is it"...So I do very much worry about what the impact on employment generally is going to be."

However, Charlie Brooker also emphasized that the technology was up to the mark yet. In addition, he believed he could not trust it to create anything for him but he still sees the potential of the idea.

"I don’t think it’s at the point where it could write an even serviceable vomit draft. I don’t know that I trust its ability to generate an idea. Now riffing on an idea that you’ve got yourself? I can potentially see that."

As is evident, these debates about AI and the rapidly changing tech world are here to stay, at least for the coming few decades.