Animated Web3 Series "Space Junk" Proves AI Can Do Vocal Work -- But Can It Write?

Beyond using the Web3 platform to deliver the show there are other innovations Russo and company have a provision for fans to interact and inform storylines and one major character a robot named Wellbecca is the first in an animated series to be voiced entirely by AI With AIgenerated content currently newsworthy it39s a central issue in the ongoing WGA strike Russo believes artistically having a robot voice a robot works quotWe wrote this series the traditional wayquot he explained during an exclusive interview with MediaVillage quotI39m in the WGA I39m striking and this was all done before the strike I mean we didn39t want to be cancelled for having a human play a robot We made that choice a long time ago and the AI voice did a great job sounding like a robotquotI doubt it would do as good of a job sounding like the humans I neededquot he added quotIt39s pretty good but the soul is missing I39m all for humans but it worked in this scenario If we had done the whole cast with robots I39d be in trouble I think Good stories don39t come from spitting out Wikipedia We engage with stories that39s why we go to coffee shops hang out and eat meals together I don39t think a computer is going to replace what we find interesting about other humansquotquotWeb3 isn39t going anywhere and the thing I love about this strike is we39re going to get this figured out and I think it39s good because we39re kind of getting ahead of the game herequot Cavalero concurred quotEveryone was so afraid of the Internet when it first came out just like when streaming came out and everybody was slow on the uptake with that There39s no way you39re gonna get the human condition from a robot I39ll challenge a Terminator to an emotional fight any dayquotYou still need a human pressing the buttons to make that workquot he continued quotI don39t think a robot could do what I do with Hank It39s one thing if we39re talking about a robot in an animated series It39s another thing talking about a human with real human emotions Creating anything truly original that grips and evokes emotion whether it39s laughter horror or whatever that human element is criticalamp8221The concept for the show has its roots in media as well though of the more traditional variety quotI read an article some five years ago about space junk as a conceptquot Russo recalled quotI was stopped in my tracks and was like 39Wait what The oceans have been filled with plastic and now the low Earth orbit is being filled with rocket debris What are we doing humans Stop39 I got obsessed with the idea of space junk as just a concept and kept digging deeper As somebody who develops and writes shows I realized I am obviously passionate about this for no particular reason It39s a cool idea and my next comedy series is all about garbage men cleaning up spacequotWith approximately one trillion pieces of debris waiting to shower down upon us that reality provided a deep well of inspiration quotThat39s another part of the writing processquot he continued quotWhen you think you have the next great show idea you ask yourself 39Is this a joke A sketch Is this a show or a movie39 This one felt like a show with potential stories to do a trillion episodes I hope You can go in any direction you want which feels overwhelming at first so I built it like a Lego world You have your locations and characters then get more specific about the characters and their purpose That kicks off the story39s direction and the season39s arcquotI mean Elon Musk even launched a Tesla Roadster in 2019 with an astronaut suit in the driver seatquot he added quotIt39s floating around up there and is probably the most valuable piece of space junk I39ve tracked that for a while and I want to go get it one day I have an outline for a future episode that includes that storyline so one of the trillion episodes will deal with thatamp8221Cavalero is no stranger to the world of animation having provided voices for Robot Chicken SuperMansion and Big City Green so being a part of the advancement of animation technology and the way it39s watched was an opportunity he couldn39t pass up quotI did SuperMansion for Crackle if you remember thatquot he laughed quotSo I39ve been lucky to get to do a few things here and there I feel like we39re talking about all this stuff because technology is moving at such a rate we can39t keep upquotI39d done nothing on this scale and nothing this cool cutting edge and adventurous before for surequot he continued quotThis was such a neat thing In December of 2022 I knew nothing of cryptocurrency Web3 or NFTs Zilch I got an offer for a film called Cold Wallet shot in a town called Lennox the home of the cofounder of FTX Sam BankmanFried all about a cryptocurrency heist I did all this research on the space blockchain and everything else When Dom contacted me about this project I had a very rudimentary basic grasp of it all I guess I39ll learn more now It39s going to be the future whether we like it or notquotEpisode one of Space Junk is currently streaming at httpswwwspacejunkiesxyz with new episodes dropping biweekly on FridaysClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Animated Web3 Series "Space Junk" Proves AI Can Do Vocal Work -- But Can It Write?

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Steve Gidlow

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Animated Web3 Series "Space Junk" Proves AI Can Do Vocal Work -- But Can It Write?

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