VIRTUALLY REAL
I was standing on a tight rope between two cliffs, equidistant to two ends in sight. When I looked down I quivered a bit so had to make a move to either side. I was lost in thought as to which way to go, so I took two steps to the right and went left for three. I wondered if this is what my daily life has come to be. Quiddity of my human imagination strangled between ‘the creation that’s mine’ and ‘the assembly work in a factory’. Alienation from work; and leisure was a little less to be seen, but I felt that I could still connect to myself through the online representation of me. Hence the salvation of the online creative space came to me where I could be as diversified, confident or ingenious as I wanted to be.
But
the twist to the story came when the boundaries among all entities fell. Still
I feel it’s somehow a good thing that we’re humanizing robots and virtual
entities because somebody definitely needs to fill the shoes that are now
outworn. This era is the one with Digital Influencers like Lil Miquela, who’s
been created using motion graphics but has inspired certain capitalists to invest
in virtual creators who’d be powered by AI which may not require any human
involvement whatsoever. It’s no more between the Ever-Ruling-Cats and us, puny humans;
it’s now a tripartite struggle.
When
the creative edge and the emotional depth of humans will be matched by the AI
powered beings, may be then we’ll get a new dimension and a rather intriguing
perspective to how we meet the ends. So, if I ever fall off the tight rope, I’m
certain that somebody, and probably a virtual somebody will reach down to pull
me up.
Art and creationism is unequivocal realm of the human mind. AI is and will remain artificial. Creating an art form by a “mind” that is a cataclysm of algorithms written by humans with the purpose of creating art isn’t original. It’s an abstract of the minds of the human(s) who created that mind. When an AI system developed to predict, say weather, creates an art form when it ain’t predicting weather, well, when that happens we can give it an original tag.
ReplyDeleteThe greatest forms of art we witness today has come from a dark place where is pain and heartache and desperation. An artist needs this struggle and channels it out to his masterpiece. It’s their magic potion.
AI is just too happy for great art 😂
Well I do agree to some extent that art indeed is an embodiment of darkness that only human mind comprehends. I just don't want to be too skeptical to the idea of it coming from somewhere else. Though an "algorithmic mind" might not be able to put that much depth in the creation, the meaning can still be found by a true aesthete even when the vase is perceivably empty.
DeleteHumans definitely have made a great choice of art over happiness XD
Aha! The author replies. :)
DeleteI agree with your perspective on the idea that art can come from any source. The admirability of art does rest in the eyes of the beholder. Where I would beg to differ is in the creation of this art. I haven’t been able to wrap my head around the notion that how a creation of the human intellect, and that too an augmented intelligence unit, an system of millions of lines of code, can create a work of originality. Art by definition (or maybe my perspective here) dwells around the median of originality, imperfection, complex emotions and carelessness, or callousness if I may. That extra stroke of the brush of Monet on the Waterloo Bridge or the finger impression on the David. These for me make the art original. I don’t see these “errors” being made by a system made to churn out perfection. Look at Whistlers Mother by JA Whistler. Why would anyone paint that? The subject matter was nothing but ordinary. The lines are imperfect, the hues are inconsistent. But we have a masterpiece. Not for the work he created in singularity. But the story behind it. What is the story an AI can present.
Total world domination, sky net. Yes they have my vote :D 😃
My two bits on this. :)
P.S. how effortlessly and gracefully you used the word quiddity in your work above! Truly in awe! I love the philosophical depth it carries. I’ve never been able to use it in a sentence for I felt it’s essence would be lost if my sentence didn’t have the strength to carry its weight. Sublime.
It's so exhilarating to read your comments.
DeleteWell I do agree that the millions of lines of codes lack the depth which ironically the 2-dimensional composition had. The errors or imperfection somehow elicit a feeling probably because of authenticity. It's simply emotionalism theory at work, the expressive nature can only be comprehended rightly and deeply if the source is credible. And AI is a fairly new source, an untested one and probably incapable one too.
I just wanted to present an optimistic approach against the world domination one (the one you're voting for XD) and by no means I'm a proponent of any.
Team human it is, though might check out the augmented intelligence if not the artificial.
P.S. thank you. I'm so glad you liked it.
I believe the anonymity of mine is lost 😃. Introductions and references can be such a buzzkill though. Denying the mind the challenge of profiling based on the trickles of information but rather overbearing it with a preconceived image 😃.
DeleteMore on this soon. Sleep time.
Subtle reference can't completely wipe out the information based profile rather it gives it a different dimension to ponder over. It doesn't necessarily demand a change in stance or the dynamics.
DeleteHmmm. I leaning to agree. If you don’t mind explain the last sentence please.
DeleteI meant that the discussion should go on the way it was going.
DeleteOf course. That I agree whole heatedly.
DeleteComing back to the topic of discussion. Yes I believe the jury is still out on this with the advancements that are being made by the hour in developing AI. I’m sure there is a fringe section trying to “humanise” AI. If I may say so.
I’m interested to hear what your thoughts are on the security and liberty aspects , with respect to the challenges AI might present itself with. Have you heard of the AI bots that Facebook developed? That is a prime example of what the consequences are once we develop a self learning mechanism. Are the 3 rules by the founding fathers enough!
About the anonymity- when and if I had that, it would have been an unfair advantage for me. I like a level playing field. 😀. Our common contact (let’s call that person Fulcrum for future references 😀) have spoken quite a bit. So its definitely unfair to have that advantage. 😊
DeleteNow I'm intrigued to know what Fulcrum has told you. I hope it wasn't too bad.
DeleteLol. Obviously nice things. And I don’t think we can discuss more about that in this public forum, for the identity of Fulcrum would be compromised. :D. Look at us. Spy craft n all! Mossad would be proud. :D
DeleteYeah. The next Eli Cohens!
DeleteOR… Knowing Fulcrum I’d probably end up being Litvinenko XD
Delete