The Cave #2
Welcome to The Cave’s difficult second album.
In an effort to avoid a sophomore slump, we’re diving into the promise and perils of anticipation, the future of AI companions, and the joys of a list.
A reminder you can get in touch with thoughts, feedback, lists, and the worst second album syndrome offenders at hello@weareallegory.com.au.
Comms
Good things come to those who tune out
We’re all waiting for something.
The interminable speculation around a date for the Australian Federal election seems to be mercifully nearing its conclusion, with the real battle set to replace a transactional tit-for-tat that’s felt every inch the actual campaign. Meanwhile, election night across the nation won't quite look the same, with Anthony Green set to hang up his hat after 30 years as ABC’s Chief Election Analyst.
The world has been glued to updates about the Pope’s health (which, at the time of writing, is improving despite ongoing kidney failure) and the prospect of President Trump (mark it off in weekly newsletter mentions bingo) following through on his promise to do any number of things, including forcibly turning Gaza into a White Lotus-esque resort.
Into these anticipatory periods comes the need for content. Lots of it.
The Albanese government is utilising both old school methods, with opposition research driving an effective news cycle around Peter Dutton’s GFC share purchases, and new media, with Albo’s Abbie Chatfield podcast interview the latest attempt to reach a small sliver of voters.
Filling airtime, column inches, and social media feeds between cautious and carefully worded healthcare updates on the Pope is even more difficult, particularly when a natural inclination to speculate on what happens next is balanced (or not) with sensitivities around an 88-year-old fighting for his life.
Trump, of course, has mastered controlling the narrative by constantly shifting it, replacing anticipation with exhaustion and delirium.
Finding the right balance between providing enough content to build anticipation and a deluge of dirge makes all the difference in making the big moment mean something when it does eventually arrive.
Culture
Career advice from Scary Movie’s Drew Decker
“Imagine having a conversation with your favorite movie character or getting career advice from an AI version of a historical figure. That’s not just companionship—it’s a new frontier in engagement.”
That’s Artem Rodichev, founder of AI-avatar chatbot platform Ex-human and the former head of AI at Replika, in a much-discussed piece over at Fast Company.
The whole article is well worth a read, and provides a good overview of the rise of AI companions, touching on loneliness, innovation, and ethics.
It’s not difficult to imagine a world in which interactive AI conversations are a part of every major marketing campaign. Public figures, including Carmen Electra (who alongside Scary Movie also appeared in Date Movie, Epic Movie, and Disaster Movie) are already offering fans a 24/7 “chat with me anytime” AI-powered experience.
The next step of fans being able to ask Captain America whether to take a new job, or checking Vincent van Gogh’s take on the best restaurant in Sydney (it’s Saint Peter, obviously, even Vincent vAIn Gogh would know that) is surely just around the corner.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of this - how many of us have wished there were two of us to help get things done? In fact, as a response to a public health epidemic of loneliness, it could prove both effectual and cost-effective.
But there’s also no point in denying it feels a bit weird, brings into question our sense of self, and is going to test our legal, technological, and societal systems to their limits.
Or we may all just get obsessed with a Regina George AI companion and wear pink on Wednesdays. Could go either way.
Curiosities
Everybody loves a list
We were in Melbourne this week, which of course meant endless comparisons to Sydney. It’s not that it’s interesting, more that it’s obligatory.
Weather, restaurants, transport, food, and coffee were all put forth to be held up against our home (or adopted home) city.
What we really need is a ranking to end the debate once and for all.
Melbourne has outstripped Sydney in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Ranking since 2021, and comfortably won in Time Out’s ‘50 Best Cities in the World’ list.
On the other hand, Sydney is now apparently home to the world’s best coffee shop, which is akin to telling Italians they don’t make the best pasta.
Adam Liaw’s point in that last link about the perils of ranking things without visiting them or providing a methodology is undoubtedly valid, but on the other hand, who doesn’t love a list? Sometimes, the more baseless and subjective the better.
Allegorists have lists of the best restaurants in Sydney, the best albums each year, the best books read, the best places to visit, and a detailed and unimpeachable ranking of every type of Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
None have any methodology, and all are better for it. Just like the Melbourne v Sydney debate.