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Writer's picturePeter K F Cheung SBS

An Art

  1. FADE IN


  2. Act 1


  3. MONTAGE OF PETER'S ACTIVITIES TODAY


  4. A. Having called to make a dinner reservation, PETER sends a WhatsApp message of the particulars.


  5. B. Peter writes a cheque, inserts it inside an envelope, writes the address and puts on initially a $2 stamp and then a $2.2 stamp.


  6. C. Having posted the letter, Peter goes to an restaurant, orders his soup noodles before taking a seat.


  7. D. Peters takes a call. We hear him talking about land resumption in D.D. 124. Peter then sends a lengthy message to a "Cheung Family" chatgroup.


  8. E. Having checked his appointments in his phone diary, Peter calls the Family Clinic to change the date of a medical appointment.


  9. END MONTAGE


  10. INT. STUDY - 16:30


  11. PETER (V.O.): Now's the time to relax.


  12. On his phone's AI drawing App, Peter types his instructions.

  13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Specifying the details such as the subject, colour, style that I want the App to draw is fun.

  14. Act 2


  15. FLASHBACK


  16. INT. STUDY - 09:30 (Earlier today)


  17. PETER is checking a fax machine.


  18. PETER (V.O.): I've to fax an "Agreed Facts" to the Court within today.


  19. Checking cables and their connections.


  20. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The new fax machine has caused my smart wife some headaches.


  21. Surfing the web with his smart phone.


  22. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me double-check the fax number to be dialed...


  23. Checking small prints.


  24. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I expect to secure an agreement with the other side soon.


  25. Ring tones. Peter checks the name of the caller.


  26. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Ah, I may be able to execute the job earlier than expected.


  27. Then, Peter engages in a few more telephone conversations.


  28. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Aiming to do better, there's quite a lot of work for a fiat counsel to follow through.


  29. Working on his laptop, Peter creates a new draft.


  30. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yesterday, I discovered a software that's compatible with Office. I'm checking if it can beat the standard.

  31. Typing, cutting, pasting and signing.


  32. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's user-friendly and seems to be free for basic use.

  33. We see Peter sending copies of his draft via email.


  34. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The recipient can pick and choose, depending on how good he is in signing e-documents.


  35. Pausing.


  36. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While waiting, let me check if my printer is in order.


  37. Having hit "Print", we see a non-responsive printer and on its small screen: "No toner".


  38. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can go back to chambers to do all that. But I should be able to manage low technology.


  39. Opening the printer, Peter replaces the dual ink cartridges with new ones. After seeing a fleeting message: "Genuine cartridges", Peter sees "Incompatible cartridges" instead.


  40. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): OMG, the printer is naughty again.


  41. After Peter's trial and error, the printer prints in the single-cartridge format.


  42. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Good enough for the time being.


  43. RETURN TO PRESENT


  44. On Peter's phone screen, we see a realistic drawing appearing.


  45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Art is aesthetic, if it has higher dimensions.


  46. Thinking.


  47. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But the sophisticated drawing is no longer a drawing, but a symbol of what ArtTech can generate.


  48. Reflecting.


  49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): However, the exquisite care of execution is still with humans, not artificial intelligence.


  50. As Peter checks other images in his smart phone, we see some strange ArtTech output.


  51. Act 3


  52. INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS


  53. Picking up his swimming gear, Peter is about to leave.


  54. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I'm committed to do something, I follow through on that commitment.


  55. Pausing.


  56. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While there're always things beyond my control, I can focus on my execution.


  57. Peter takes another look of the AI drawing.


  58. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Even the AI App is constantly learning and improving. To do better is itself an art.


  59. FADE OUT


  60. THE END


















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