I’ve been enjoying Long Story Short, a new animated show from creators of BoJack Horseman. It tells the non-linear story of a Jewish family living in California from the 1980s through the 2020s, with each episode focusing on a different family member and how their life has changed over time. It’s funny, touching, brilliantly structured, and deeply human.
At the end of the credits for the first episode, I noticed an interesting proclamation:
Each subsequent episode has concluded with the same statement: “This program was made by humans.” Ten years ago, that would have seemed like a strange thing to put in a TV show’s credits. Today, even though it doesn’t mention generative AI, its meaning is clear.
More and more current-day creative endeavors are including similar, if more explicit, AI disclaimers. It’s a sign of the times, as it grows harder by the day to tell the difference between human- and machine-made art. I’ve seen new video games, movies, and albums include statements to the effect of, “No generative AI was used to make this.” Or, in some cases, “Generative AI was used to make this, but we swear we didn’t use it that much.”
The Long Story Short disclaimer is the first I’ve seen to come at it from the opposite direction. It’s an avowal of humanity, as opposed to a disavowal of AI; affirmative where other AI statements are preemptive. That means it’s also imprecise. After all, it’s possible for humans to make something while also using generative AI. But while a future AI disclosure standard will likely require more precise language, I find something appealing about “this was made by humans.”
Speaking to Indiewire back in August for a nice feature about the show, creator Raphael Bob-Waksburg explained what he was going for:
“It’s a bit of a toothless guarantee, because there’s no standard at this point, there’s no Humane Society of Anti-AI to certify this as the correct amount of non-automation,” said Waksberg. “But as a statement of value, it was worth saying out loud, ‘This is important to us,’ and what I love about the show is that it is made by humans. Even in the artwork, we were really deliberate in saying, ‘Let’s color outside the lines a little bit, let’s, let’s make this feel handmade.’ In the writing, too, we want it to feel personal. We want it to feel specific.”
He went on to explain how the collaborative nature of the project helped make it great, and why he wouldn’t want a machine that spits out a polished version of whatever scene he’s imagining. He concluded: “I do feel like we need to draw some lines in the sand. We all do, every single day. I don’t know what that line is, but I think it is worth talking about, as audiences [are] saying ‘we don’t want AI art.’”
Long Story Short’s “made by humans” proclamation is a valuable addition to the conversation Bob-Waksburg references, in part because of its directness. Many AI disclosures are precise to the point of obfuscation. They read like legalese, designed to disguise the things they aren’t saying. “AI tools were used in the idea generation phase of this project, and to assist with some background art and incidental writing,” that kind of thing.
By contrast, “This program was made by humans” cuts to the heart of the matter. For all that it leaves unsaid, it conveys a welcome emotional clarity at a time when the lines between real and artificial art are blurrier than ever.
An Australian icon on Strong Songs
On the latest episode of Strong Songs, Aussie TV legend Leigh Sales joined me to talk about our favorite TV theme songs. We covered a lot of ground, from The Office to Green Acres to The Sopranos to Peacemaker, and we only had time for a fraction of the shows we’d intended to talk about. (We did make time to talk about the character she plays on Bluey.)
Leigh has been an integral part of the Strong Songs Extended Universe for years, ever since she gave the show its biggest ever single-day spike in listeners by recommending it on her own podcast, Chat 10 Looks 3. Leigh and her co-host Annabel Crabb are the reason Emily and I flew out to Australia a couple years back, and are also the reason we’ll likely return within the next few years for a Strong Songs live show. She is, basically, the best, and we had so much fun. I hope you enjoy the episode.
Oh and also….
Strong Songs wins an international journalism award!
A jury at the Reeperbahn Music Festival in Hamburg, Germany awarded Strong Songs the 2025 International Music Journalism Award in the audio category. Here’s a pic from the awards ceremony, for which I recorded a video acceptance speech.
That’s the first time Strong Songs has ever won an award! I’m super proud, and wish I could’ve flown out to accept in person. Thank u Germany <3
Onward
That’ll do it for now. As I recently mentioned, I’m preparing to move Kirk’s Notes to a new home away from Substack, at which point I’ll likely turn on the option for paid subscriptions for those who want to support the newsletter. I’m still working out exactly what that will look like, but it won’t be super different from how things work now. Paid subscriptions will be totally optional, and you shouldn’t need to do anything to stay subscribed. I just wanted to let you all know that the move is still in the works.
I’ll leave you with this pic of a double rainbow that appeared in the sky above our house after a rainstorm last week. I know these closing pics usually feature Appa, but she was pooping in the yard when I took this one. You can imagine that along with the rainbows, if you want.
Take care, and keep listening-
~KH
10/28/2025