Artificial intelligence (AI) is achieving extraordinary feats and has become a reality that can no longer be ignored, lyricist-scriptwriter Javed Akhtar said on Monday.
“If you see the progress of science, every invention, including automobiles and railway engines, has been resisted by the people. They think such advancements are going to badly affect society, but science is not immoral,” Akhtar said at Samvet Auditorium in the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
“Whether (you think) it is right or it is wrong, science is going to move forward. Even in foreign countries, artificial intelligence is making unbelievable achievements and it’s a reality now,” he added.
Akhtar was speaking at an event titled Soundscapes of India Season 2 in reference to the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) dedicating a section to AI-based content.
“What we have to think about now is how to use it in our favour. How we can control this power that's being generated is supposed to be for our ease. But you cannot wish it away,” he added.
When asked about the Hollywood writers’ strike protesting AI’s imitation of their writing style, Akhtar said the apprehensions are “to some extent genuine, but also somewhat exaggerated.”
“The fact is that today AI depends on existing data. Who gives that data? You are giving them the data,” he said.
“The data is always going to be shared and used. You have to decide what share of it you want. It is never going to stop,” Akhtar added.
“They say ‘Don't make stories using AI, don’t make songs using AI’ but you have to understand everything is dependent on data of people that have already made that work,” Akhtar shared.
