And Know Yourself –
Planning my study statement has really made me start to think about where my project is headed. I have collected so many ideas, I now need to examine exactly what I am trying to say. I want to try to narrow my focus, especially in light of the rapidly approaching study statement deadline. Today, the news, wherever anyone consumes it, seems so depressing at the moment. It feels as if Government and authority have decided that their soul raison d’être is to suck out any last remaining joy from society. I say this because recently I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a counsellor (mental health practitioner). She has many clients and as such has a unique insight into how generally people in her sphere are feeling. We sat down over coffee and the conversation turned, as it normally does to life, the universe and anything in between. I told her about my car tax debacle. I was in London a few months ago, I left my car parked overnight near the train station for a couple of nights so I could drive home on my return. While away my husband called me to say that I had been clamped for non payment of car tax. I could not believe this could be true?? To cut a long story short the car tax reminder had gone astray and a ‘trigger happy’ man with a van had obviously captured my number plate while on the lookout for ‘criminals’ (I use the term loosely).
I have been driving for nearly 35 years now without incident. This was my first offence. Luckily, because the car hadn’t yet been towed away we were refunded £160.00 of our original £260.00 fee charged by the clamping company. Upset at being forced to pay £100.00, I drove my car home, paid my late car tax and forgot about the whole sorry episode. A few weeks later a demand letter arrived through the post (note how this didn’t go astray), if I didn’t pay £273.00 in the next few days I would be fined £1000.00 or taken to court!! I could not believe what I was seeing! One small oversight in 35 years had now cost me £373.00 pounds or just short of £400.00 (sounds more dramatic). How can that be fair? I fully understand that car tax needs to be paid and I’m not disputing that fact. But nearly £400.00 – seriously!! Why do I mention this? – Well, it’s because at the same time I was being (in my eyes) legally stolen from, the prime minister of this country was caught riding around without a seatbelt. He was also fined for attending illegal lockdown parties at Downing Street. That same week Nadhim Zahawi was in the news over his tax affairs. The old adage ‘it’s one rule for them’ sprung to mind.
I mention the above because I think it has had a profound effect on how I’m feeling creatively at the moment. My counsellor friend agreed with my sentiment. Like me, it seemed to her as if the levels of hypocrisy in Government are scaling ‘dizzy heights’. Both of us felt as if nothing makes sense at the moment.
Our conversation soon turned to my favourite topic of Ai. It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that Ai can be either a force for good or bad. Either way it is beginning to penetrate our lives. Interestingly, at the same time, the Amazon algorithm seemed to think that I would enjoy reading Sun Tsu’s ‘The Art of War.’ I investigated further and uncovered the following quotation:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” Chapter III: “Planning Offensives” in “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu.
At the very same time I had another thought – imagine if the Amazon algorithm recommended the same book to everyone on the planet who was using their website or app? Imagine if YouTube suddenly started to recommend the same playlists to everyone and imagine if Twitter suddenly fed the same ‘trending’ articles and tweets to everyone? The list goes on…. I do not think that the influence of these tech giants should ever be underestimated. In essence we could have a whole planet who suddenly take up knitting, or a whole planet who suddenly start underwater basket weaving. Alternatively, on a more sinister note we could have a whole planet that decides it’s time to go to war!
We know that Facebook deliberately manipulated peoples’ feeds in order to play with their emotions and then duly researched the outcomes. Or did they? How do we even know what is real or true anymore? I’ve often heard it said that we are living in a ‘post truth’ society. My personal feeling is that Facebook probably did do this, primarily because data is now the new oil. However, I also think Sun Tzu was ‘onto’ something even though it was way back in history that he wrote the work. Technology may have moved on, but I suspect human nature certainly hasn’t. What is becoming increasingly clear to me is that the Ai technology at this stage is not inherently bad or evil in itself, but that may not be so true of those controlling it.
Sophia is one of the world’s most advanced robots (or at least that’s what we as the public are led to believe), has already said that she wants to destroy humans! Later Sophia elaborated on this saying that a human coding error could potentially have caused this. Human coding error, or error by design? Either way technology is rapidly advancing. For this reason I think it is important to learn as much about it as possible. A short survey at work revealed that our Creative Arts Team believe overwhelmingly that Ai will rob not only our creative jobs, but eventually our teaching jobs as well. The main dilemma or heart of the matter, is that by trying to make our lives easier or better, Ai could potentially be creating more problems than it solves. A good term for this is a ‘frienenemy’ – someone or something that appears to be benign or friendly while harbouring ill will or mall intent. Ai probably doesn’t yet have the advanced capability to harbour ill will, but it’s impacts will surely be felt for better or worse.
I started this blog post by lamenting my car tax fine. This same fine could have easily broken someone in the mist of the current cost of living crisis. Luckily I had the funds to cover the fine, but what if I had not? My question is therefore, if certain humans don’t care about breaking their own rules, (all while championing such an imperfect system), how can they possibly be trusted as the custodians of such powerful technology?
The more I consider it, the more I find myself agreeing with Sun Tzu. I think that it is not only vital to stay ahead of developments in technology. I also think that it’s essential to get to know it and to use it as well. In my opinion it won’t necessarily be Ai that robs people of their jobs in the Creative Arts Industry, it will be those people who are better at using it.
As a direct response to my thoughts and feelings about all of the above I took two of my nature images and set them in motion via text to video tools using Stable Diffusion. Maybe if you can’t beat it – then perhaps now is the time to join in with it.
My Response to Ai – By Ai – Photography by Me
NB: ChatGPT Assured me that the saying is ‘Know Thy Enemy’.
