‘I’ve decided it’s time, the AI revolution has begun’

Last year, Reese Witherspoon came in for some criticism. There was significant backlash to some comments she made in a magazine interview. Regarding AI, Reese said in part: “It’s so, so important that women are involved in AI because it will be the future of filmmaking. And you can be sad and lament it all you want, but the change is here.” Keep in mind, her union (SAG-AFTRA) had recently gone on strike and fought a huge battle with Hollywood to limit the use of AI in filmmaking, citing the need to hire actual flesh-and-blood actors. Reese came across as sort of blithely tone-deaf at best. Well, Reese is doubling-down.

Reese Witherspoon is again advising her followers that there’s no time like the present to start learning about and using artificial intelligence in their daily lives and workplaces.

“The Morning Show” star posted on Instagram Wednesday doubling down on earlier remarks that women need to become familiar with AI tools.

“Well…I’ve decided it’s TIME,” she wrote. “The AI revolution has begun, and I need to learn as much as I possibly can about AI and share it with all of you. Also, FYI: the jobs women hold are 3x more likely to be automated by AI, yet women are using AI at a rate 25% lower than men on average. We don’t want to be left behind. So…do you want to learn with me?”

Actress Kerry Washington commented on the post, writing, “THIS” in agreement. But other commenters were not as upbeat, pointing out their concerns about the environmental impact of the technology and the impact of data centers on communities.

Some commenters speculated that her upbeat advice sounded like it must be some sort of launch for a company or service utilizing AI.

[From Variety]

It absolutely sounds like Reese is about to launch something related to or reliant on AI. Her post sounds like an advertisement or incipient spon-con. Reese is crazy-rich now, having sold her production company, Hello Sunshine, for $900 million five years ago. She sounds like every other bored rich person trying to sell the worker bees on the AI scam: “you too can help build the thing which will kill your jobs and cripple the economy, ladies!” An underrated consequence of Reese’s argument is that as soon as women embrace AI and try to work in AI, the misogynist tech bros will be furious about it and suddenly AI will be “over.” “It’s icky now that women are part of this industry, AI girl cooties!”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.