The 'artificial' part of AI
When we talk about artificial intelligence, most of the time, our emphasis is on the 'intelligence' part. How close are we to singularity? Is this the beginning of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)? Will robots be smarter than humans? Etc.
But very rarely to I hear anyone talk about the 'artificial' part.
What does it mean for society when content is not human-generated? How might derivative content change our concept of art, or skill, or dare I say 'soul' (whatever that means to you)?
In the early days of recorded music, an artist (let’s say Nat King Cole) would walk into the live room where an entire orchestra and rhythm section is set up and on standby. As soon as the engineer pressed record, and the band counted off, tiny capsules in microphone throughout the room would capture every movement of particles of air, and convert them to electronic signals that were recorded onto magnetic tape as an analogue waveform.
No approximation. No interpolation. No fabrication.
Actual excited particles of energy were captured in that moment in time and space. The energy of the room. The energy of the performer. The interpretation of the subject matter by an empathetic human performer who has honed their craft by learning what resonates with other human beings.
Each musician brought their own energy to that singular performance, making it a one-of- kind document of human artistic expression, that captures the humanity of that era.
Today, with the latest AI tools, I could input the text off a beer coaster and have a rendition of a song in the style of Nat King Cole, with the click of a button. Just me, in my basement, with no particular vocal abilities of competence. I could then publish that to all the music streaming platforms, gloating in my newfound intellectual property and sitting back, waiting for the royalties to come in.
But what have I actually contributed to the artistic growth of humanity? What comment have I made on the human condition? How have I prepared future generations to learn from and understand this thing called Life?
Is it a case that the more artificial our focus, the more artificial our society? Do we insidiously lose our authenticity? Do we forget how to be human, in the long run? Does our collective consciousness lose its 'soul'?
So to close, do I want intelligence from systems, applications and machines?
Yes!
Do I want that intelligence to be artificial?
Absolutely not!
