How Will Different Industries Respond to Coronavirus?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around how various industries are responding to the challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic. It explores the adaptations and strategies being implemented across sectors such as entertainment, sports, and high-tech, as well as the potential acceleration of AI and automation in the economy.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant discusses the film and entertainment industry's adaptations, including the use of mannequins, rewritten scripts to minimize physical contact, and aggressive testing protocols for cast and crew.
  • Another participant notes the varied responses of sports leagues, with some canceling seasons and others attempting to create "bubbles" for players, raising questions about the effectiveness of these measures.
  • A participant from the high-tech sector observes a shift towards remote work, suggesting that many companies may reconsider the necessity of large office spaces in light of the pandemic.
  • Some participants propose that the pandemic may have accelerated the integration of AI and automation into the economy by a decade, although the specifics of this claim are not detailed.
  • Another participant seeks clarification on how the introduction of AI and automation is expected to change the economy, indicating a desire for further exploration of this topic.
  • References to various articles are provided to support claims about the increased use of AI and robotics in response to COVID-19 challenges.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the effectiveness of industry responses to the pandemic, particularly in entertainment and sports. There is also a lack of consensus on the extent to which AI and automation will be integrated into the economy as a result of the pandemic.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about the acceleration of AI and automation are based on anecdotal observations and references to external articles, but specific details and evidence are not provided within the discussion itself.

BillTre
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What kinds of efforts will different facets of the economy take to carry on with their activities while control viral spread?
How effective will they be?
Different kinds of activities will require different approaches.

One example is the film/entertainment industry.
Here is a NY Times article about how the entertainment part of the economy is trying to cope, focusing on more physical intimacy. These approaches have included the following:
  • mannequins (combined with shooting techniques to avoid showing the mannequin is inanimate
  • rewritting to avoid depictions of contact
    • innuendo-laden scripts
    • installments that dives deep into the story of one or two characters, often with a limited number of sets — in order to help manage the number of people present during filming.
    • “We’ve done mysterious diseases, so my hope is that ‘Riverdale’ will be an escape from the real world, rather than a reflection,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. A previously planned five to six-year time jump in the plotline will also help skirt the Coronavirus issue.
    • “The joke among the writers,” he added, “is that we will watch two characters say they want to have sex and then cut to them saying, ‘That was some great sex.’”
  • aggressive testing of cast and crew
  • quarantining, on-set medical professionals
  • camera wizardry, illusion
    • “Smoke and mirrors,” the “You” showrunner Sera Gamble said, “are basically the entire job description of making cinematic entertainment. Everything requires fakery.”
Another are what the various sports leagues.
Some are just cancelling (some college sports).
Some which make a lot of money are trying to different approaches.
I am vaguely aware of different groups doing lots of testing or creating a "bubble" (which I guess people will be isolated in), but its not clear to me how effective these different approaches can do.
Some seasons have been shortened.
Getting (and keeping) a medium sized population of disease free athletes (and support crew) might be difficult.
Larger numbers make this more difficult.
What will they do when there failures (someone on a 40+ squad (plus coaches, trainers, etc.) gets sick) where virus could have been transmitted it to others with in the "bubble"?
 
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Excellent question. In the high-tech sector, I think it has been a wakeup call to companies that they really could transition much more of their workforce to work-at-home (which was already done on a limited basis), with only an occasional need to go into the office.

Here in Silicon Valley, this has left many large beautiful office buildings mostly vacant, with a lingering question, "Why did we build all of these large buildings anyway?". As I drive into work (I'm an essential employee who works in a large electronics lab, so I can only do about half of my work from home via the Internet), I see so many empty buildings and parking lots now for companies that obviously do the majority of their work via the Internet. With 20-20 hindsight, the construction of those buildings was largely unnecessary, and a typical 5-10 building campus could easily be compressed into one of those buildings.

I'm not sure who loses the money on these cases -- the large companies have probably signed multi-year leases with the building owners/construction companies. But when those leases expire, I have the feeling that they will not be renewed on the majority of those buildings, and stock in Internet companies and infrastructure will keep rising. Strange new world.
 
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Not surprisingly, some believe that the virus may have advanced the introduction of AI/automation into more parts of our economy by 10 years.
 
gleem said:
Not surprisingly, some believe that the virus may have advanced the introduction of AI/automation into more parts of our economy by 10 years.
Interesting. How so?
 
 

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