Ben&Ben rejects AI slop with physical TTAD book and vinyl releases

Miguel said the idea goes back to “the roots of human connection,” as digital content proliferates at an unprecedented pace.

“Real life experiences, especially na parang faster than lightning ‘yong emergence ng content online, at ang tinatawag na mahiwagang AI slop na basically nagsaturate ng mundo digitally,” he said in an interview on Saturday with radar Entertainment after the TTAD launch at the Manila International Book Fair at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

“Doon namin na-realize na itong mga ito, libro na nahahawakan, vinyl or CD na napapakinggan, biglang ‘yon pala ‘yong mga things na we can use to be able to have shared experiences together,” Miguel said.

“‘Yon ‘yong irreplaceable kasi lalo na ngayon na ang gulo-gulo ng mga kaganapan, ang gulo-gulo digitally. Back to basics!” he said.

For Paolo, the appeal of physical releases is also deeply personal. As someone who enjoys collecting physical merchandise, he understands the feeling of owning something that an artist poured their “dugod-pawis” into.

“Iba kasi ‘yong connection na alam mong meron silang pinagbuhusan ng dugod-pawis na art nila na nakahawakan mo, na you also are able to concretely support something you believe in,” he said.

For Paolo, that role of art has become more important as technology increasingly takes over everyday tasks.

“Lalo na ngayon, where sometimes we’re being pulled away more and more from what it means and feels to be human. Art is a way to pull us back in. Ito ‘yong pagiging tao,” he said.

Physical formats, he added, can force people to be present.

“‘Yong kagandahan ng physical is kahit na old school siya, mayroong physical medium in itself actually forces you to do just one thing and to be present,” Paolo said.

He noted one simple difference from streaming: “’Di mo siya masi-skip. Literal, pagka sinimulan mo siya, kailangan mong tapusin.”

He has made vinyl part of his dishwashing routine. “‘Pag naghugas ako ng plato, maglalagay ako ng plaka. Dahil din dun, nai-enjoy ko maghugas ng plato,” he said.

He sees the same value in reading a physical book: “Kapag nagbabasa ka na unplugged, ‘yon lang talaga ‘yong ginagawa mo. Dun ka naka-focus,” Paolo said.

“And I feel like it’s healthier for our brains and our souls to be able to have those kinds of experiences in a world where increasingly, we’re sucked into a void of doing so many things at once or even something else doing all those things for us.”

“And then we slowly lose our minds,” he added.

Ben&Ben launched the TTAD paperback at the Manila International Book Fair on Friday, Sept. 12. The book follows Liwanag’s journey through different dimensions as she seeks to reach the Duyan Dimension.

For the twins, bringing TTAD into physical formats is ultimately a way of making the experience something fans can hold, share and return to offline.

READ: