A computer said "Look what I make!
These pictures and songs - they're not fake!"
But humans they smiled,
For art's something wild
That only life's journey can wake
I gave a talk in Dec 2024 to the European School of Economics, invited by Paul Blanchard’s sustainability class in which I try to explore how the Artist is changing and how they will evolve given all the industrial creative production that is possible through generative AI technologies.
AI pervades our discussions and is this moment, and has made heavy impact on the creative sector in which I work. While many have seen a reduction in work because of GenAI, we also are familiar with how human audiences adapt quickly to changes like this and look for value in processes that move beyond.
In my talk I propose that there is a class of creative output that will be subject to detailed scrutiny of qualities that essentially flip the problem on its head. When you look for something beautiful to experience or create how much will you care about how it was made, by whom and for what reason? I expect that as we seek core aesthetic values such as scarcity, authenticity, craft we will become more and more tuned in to those affects that stand out as being unique human context that can be demonstrated to be not industrialised production.
This new creative language is an opportunity, particularly to talk to newer generations that are particularly attune to identifying technological quirks.