“The View From the Phlipside” is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY. It can be heard Monday through Friday around 7:30 AM. The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program. Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moment’s notice. WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed. You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com. Copyright 2013-18 by Jay Phillippi. All Rights Reserved. You like what you see and hear? Drop me a line and we can talk.
Programs from the week of November 11, 2018
This Week’s Podcast
My name is Jay Phillippi and I’ve spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
AI Media
There’s a meme out there about the immigration issue that says illegal aliens aren’t taking America’s jobs, robots are. I have absolutely zero intent in wading into that issue here, but it did pop into my mind when I saw the story about the Artificial Intelligence news anchor that made its debut in China last week. Even with computer programming putting a lot of broadcast talent out of work over the last couple decades, it always felt like this was one area that humans would always be required, at least to some degree.
Maybe not so much.
China’s official news agency, Xinhua, teamed up with Chinese search engine company Sogou.com to create a functional AI video news anchor. It’s based on an actual anchor at the Xinhua News Agency by the name of Zhang Zhao, and can deliver the news in English. There’s a different version that does the news in Chinese.
So the bottom line question is – why? Why create an anchor that can work without rest 24/7, that requires no breaks, no benefits, will never ask for a raise or have ego issues? The question almost answers itself, doesn’t it?
On a performance level, it remains obvious that the voice is computer generated. It’s awkward with terrible tempo and rhythm. I can’t imagine anyone listening to it for long periods of time without losing their marbles. The video image is pretty good, although the introductory video seems to suffer from the same problem as old school dubbed movies. The words and the anchor’s mouth seem to be out of synch with one another.
The reaction I’ve seen so far isn’t surprising. Plenty of references to SkyNet and our future domination by our own machines. Several people note that it will be much easier to control the news that goes out when you get rid of those pesky humans.
In reality, It’s not really a full on AI issue yet. The Xinhua robo-anchor is a high tech ventriloquist dummy. Someone has to continue to type in the text for him to say. For the moment that will continue to require a human being, or a whole team of them.
In the end, I’m not concerned, at least not yet. I’ve talked before about the connection that local news anchors have with their communities. That’s something that this anchor will never have. We may have AI overlords in our future, but I don’t think we need to worry about them taking over the media just yet.
The New Book?
As a lifelong reader, lover of books and aspiring author I am always excited about the next big thing when it comes to publishing. The problem has been that there hasn’t been much that would fall into that category. The publishing industry has been a leader in dragging its feet as the new digital age arrived. Eventually, they moved into e-publishing. But what has happened since then? Best-selling author James Patterson is underwhelmed by the state of innovation that he sees in the publishing world. Can’t argue with him one little bit.
But unlike the host of a small radio program, the ideas of one of the most popular authors of the last couple decades can create change. Enter “The Chef”, a novel that focuses on a food truck chef in one of my favorite cities, New Orleans. The chef in question is also a NOPD detective and the suspect in a murder investigation. Sounds like pretty standard Patterson fare. But here’s where the innovation comes. This novel is being delivered via Facebook Messenger.
A moment to consider the app in question. Launched as Facebook Chat in 2008, it was changed into a standalone application and re-launched in 2011. Opinions on the service have always varied. There was a big fuss made when it seemed like the app required a much more sweeping set of permissions than were thought wise in some corners. I know a lot of folks who find the whole thing annoying and have ditched it all together. I will admit that I don’t use it a lot. Mostly when I want to take a conversation “off-line”. It’s usually because the conversation doesn’t require or need any more than a couple of us involved. But I bet I don’t use it more than a couple times a month.
That may be the impetus for Facebook’s involvement. They are moving toward more products available through the service. I pulled the novel up, search for “The Chef by James Patterson” and launched the novel. It’s fed to you in a long series of conversation bubbles with some photos and other items interspersed. The goal is to create a more immersive experience for the novel reader. My initial reaction isn’t positive. But that may be my age demographic as much as anything. I find the format annoying, but who knows it may grow on me. The book will be available in all the traditional forms early next year.
But kudos to Patterson for taking a shot at something new.
Excelsior!
In my lifetime, which takes us back to the late ‘50s, I’m not sure there is anyone who has had a larger impact on popular culture than Stan Lee. That’s a mouthful of praise, I will grant you. But the impact that the former boss man of Marvel Comics is hard to measure. And it would be equally hard to find anyone who enjoyed the spotlight more than he did.
The current generation of Marvel Universe fans know Stan as a legend and for his cameo appearances in all the Marvel movies. But for me, it is the earlier version of Stan the Man that I will always remember. The man who completely changed my superhero world.
Born Stanley Martin Lieber in 1922, Stan was a high school graduate already when he started at Timely Comics at age 17 and made his debut with his pen name at age 19. Later in life, he would legally change his name to the one we all know.
It’s important to remember that comic books were not always the beloved pop icons that they are today. They were considered a danger to the younger generations morality and intellect in the 1950s, which resulted in a squeaky clean and dull product. It was an industry that Stan Lee was never cut out for.
The Marvel Comics that I read in the mid-60s were anything but dull or squeaky clean. With the artistic genius of people like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and writer Larry Lieber the Marvel superheroes were human, flawed, cranky, sulky, angry. They were amazing. And groundbreaking, which is why they have endured the way they have.
But that’s not why I’m a Stan Lee fan. It was the conversation that he seemed to be having with the readers through sly little comments in the action and his Bullpen Bulletins, which was Lee’s answer to the letters to the editor page. There was nothing formal about that page, it was Stan talking to us and us talking back. He seemed every bit as excited about what was going on as I was, and that made his comics the coolest thing going. It carried over to his monthly column, “Stan’s Soapbox”, which I looked forward to almost as much as the latest Iron Man.
Stan Lee had been in failing health for a while, and passed away just days ago. He was 95 years old.
The world is a lesser place with him gone, but there’s only one possible way to end this tribute to Stan the Man. With his own trademark motto. For you, Stan –
Excelsior!
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Copyright Jay Phillippi, 2018
Theme music for “The View From the Phlipside” and “TVFTP – Podcast” is “Hustle”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Stories Are My Life 
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