Some Reflections on A.I.

(But Also Maybe a Bit More Than Just A.I.)

I had decided a while back that I am not going to engage in conversations that end up with judgmental and blameful arguments. Don’t get me wrong. I love a heated conversation where emotions are running wild. I don’t necessarily believe that they are useful, but they are necessary. If we’ve had a conversation before or if you’ve read any of my writings, you probably know that I don’t think these splits are possible: splitting the emotions from the cognitive, or splitting the science from the art, or splitting the process from the result, or… So that’s not what I’m talking about. I think we can get emotional about topics we’re passionate about, but that doesn’t mean that we vilify the person we’re having a conversation with, or blame them, or judge them for having that opinion.

Obviously, this image was generated using A.I.

Why am I doing this whole introduction, you ask. Of course you do. I would’ve done the same thing. Well, because once again, I’m going to embark on sharing an unpopular opinion. I still don’t know why I keep doing this to myself. I really, really, really didn’t want to write about this this time. Not only to avoid what I think will be unnecessary difficult conversations, but also because I didn’t think this “polarization” would last this long or would catch on the way it did. I have many close friends who hold opinions about this that I didn’t expect at all. Not that it’s a problem. I love friends with different opinions. It’s just that those friends are more than I expected in numbers and the arguments they have are… well, surprising for me. As a matter of fact, that could probably be a big reason why we’re friends for me. So if you disagree with me, I hope you write me back or we can have a proper conversation about this. I hope I don’t become your big disappointment or your “I thought he was smarter than that” or any other judgement of that sort.

So… Here it goes. A.I. is not that bad.

Okay okay… That’s not too controversial. Well, actually, I’m just easing you into it… Here…

A.I. is actually good. Yes, here I start losing some of you here. One half is thinking yes, of course it can be good if it’s used for good, but it’s being used for bad now so, no. It’s not good. Okay… If you want to stop reading, I’d love to hear from you. For the rest, shall I push you a bit more? Okay… You asked for it.

A.I. is neither good nor bad. It is exactly what we/you make out of it. Because I intend to use A.I. for what I think are good things, I think that A.I. is actually good. It’s one of the best things that has ever happened to humanity. Ooooohhh… No. I didn’t prepare you for that one. If you want to leave now, I totally get it. That was all on me.

Now, for the very few adventurous ones who still stayed, as a thank you for humoring me, let me tell you why I think that.

I come from a generation that has seen a lot of before-and-afters. Let me try to make a quick list. I vividly remember the day in which we went from a handful of local television channels to cable/satellite television, and thus, a whole world of channels. Usually, I don’t have a great memory, but I very clearly remember the exact day on which we bought a computer at home. A few years after using floppy disks, then CD-ROMs and DVDs (the exact memory of these is not very clear, but I’m certain that I have spent more time reading random Encyclopedia Encarta articles than I or anyone should have), I remember clearly the day we got a modem and our first phone-based internet subscription. I remember the day I borrowed my mother’s cellular phone (an Alcatel). I remember how that borrowing frequency kept increasing until that phone became mine. I’m sure there are a few more such firsts that happened to me. I just can’t remember them. But, I think these are enough to make my point.

During every single case mentioned above, people around me were skeptical and afraid. The skepticism and fear were about whether this new thing will actually work and do what it promises to do. If it didn’t, it was a problem for the skeptics and those who were afraid. If it did, it would be a bigger problem for them. It was about people losing jobs. It was about the environment (yes, those conversations did exist from way back then). It was about accessibility and price. It was about safety, and it was about privacy. There were ethics involved and that led to philosophy and religion wanting a piece of the debate (as they usually do. I wish they would stop at that sometime for a change). Even though I wasn’t there and I wouldn’t know, I have a feeling that very similar topics were being discussed when the steam engine was invented. Or electricity (Shit! Electricity! Can you imagine being a farmer living in a world that doesn’t know electricity and then suddenly, you have to deal with understanding that new thing that flows in wires and makes light?! I’m sure that would’ve scared the shit out of me!). Airplanes? I have no idea about these. I think I had just missed those conversations, and I really don’t feel like looking something like that up. If you witnessed any arguments against airplanes when they were first invented, please, do share them with me (of course I mean other than the current ones that are fully backed by science and are in retrospect as opposed to assumption-based arguments, by people who had probably never seen one, let alone been in one).

Anyway, does any of this sound familiar? Yes, there are a few other arguments that A.I. brings to the table and that are unique to A.I., but I’m sure each invention or revolutionary tool (yes, tool. More on that later) had its unique counterarguments. Like copyright, for example. Yes, if A.I. is breaching any copyright laws in a fashion that humans don’t do, then I am totally with finding a way to limit that or even stop it. My problem is that I don’t think A.I. is doing anything that humans aren’t. Humans are only doing it at a smaller scale, and that makes look like it’s doing it differently. I am a strong believer that there’s nothing new under the sun. With that logic, humans are always infringing copyrights. This does bring up a very important note that I need to share. I am not here to defend A.I. I am not here to try to sell A.I. as this amazing tool that you should all adopt now. At least, not yet. I think we are still in the very early stages of A.I. (think mobile phone vs. smart phone kind of evolution). And I think we’re in a transitional phase when it comes to A.I. adoption and applications. However, what I am trying to argue is that when the dust settles, A.I. will be a tool that everyone is using, and the sooner you start, the easier that threshold will be for you to cross (think your parents and mobile/smartphones).

When the honeymoon phase is done and the novelty of it all is not a hot topic or a get-rich-fast scheme, A.I. will become an indispensable tool, whether we like it or not. It will become as normal as whatever device you are reading this on. It will become as normal as turning on a switch and light coming on and you not thinking about it for a second (unless you come from Lebanon or Syria or Palestine or Iraq or… you know what I mean). Whether we like or not. But… I think we should like it. I think we should like it because it is the closest we have ever gotten to shattering the barriers that come between us and creation. Whether creation is art or business or science or engineering or just commuting, a lot of those processes are bogged down by technicalities and technique.

I also grew up in a generation that idolized technique. And it’s beautiful to see a human being practice something enough to master it and then watching that human in action is magical. But also, 1) technique has always been useless on its own and it has always been about what you do with that technique, and 2) technique was rarely accessible. There were always gatekeepers for technique. Well, the good news is that even those gatekeepers will also lose their jobs thanks to A.I. Not just our graphic designer friend with whom we’re boycotting A.I. in solidarity (but secretly asking ChatGPT one question per day when we’re alone in the toilet. Also, one question wouldn’t harm the environment THAT much. You already hate it and because of that you’re not even saying “please” to it anyway).

I think we should like it because we’re getting closer and closer to being able to focus on “what I have to say and why I have to say it” instead of “how I say it and do I know the best way”. We’re getting the closest we’ve ever been to our creations being the most human. Yes, I know this is counter-intuitive when we’re talking about A.I., but hear me out here. I have a theory. I have a theory that says that in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, there were at least 5 The Beatles in the world. Therefore, there are, at least, 4 that you haven’t heard of. The reason is that music production was accessible to very few people back then. Whether you want to call it hard work, technique, luck, or whatever these specific 4 people had access to record, market, and sell their work to the whole world and that’s what made them who they are and that’s why you know them. Yes, they were good. Maybe even geniuses for some of you. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that now I’m sure that there were many of them. How can I be so sure? Because look at music now. At least ONE of your favorite modern artists recorded their album or one of your favorite track at home on a setup that cost them $500. The setup The Beatles used cost in the millions of dollars, and it wasn’t half as good in audio quality and needed, at least, double the resources (time, energy, expertise/technique…) And if they didn’t have that facility, you would have never heard of them.

Here’s another story that’s less theoretical and more of a personal experience. Some of you know that I make music. All of this started with me being a drummer. Being a drummer in the 90’s and 2000’s was still cool. But it was also a very trying time for drummers. Drum machines that were invented a few decades before and computers were catching up and becoming better and better. They were becoming so good, in fact, that drummers started being replaced by machines. Of course, it was a very difficult time for me. I was drumming with about 3 bands at the same time hoping to increase my chances of one of them making it. So I was 3 times more crushed than other drummers, I think. But a long story short, fast forward 20 years, and I have a collection of drum machines now and my last 3 musical projects were all done “in the box” (fully in the computer). There are still drummers in the world. They are just much, much better than before. Even I still use the drum set, when I think it’s needed. Drum sets and drummers did not disappear, though, on paper, and with the quality of drum machines and computer-generated music out there, there is no need for transporting that huge instrument, setting it up and then micing it, just to have 2 hours left in the day to record the first take of a song, or play a 2-hour concert or gig and then pack it all again to go take it to where you store it and then go back home.

Our great grandparents survived the steam engine. Our grandparents were born into it. Our grandparents survived electricity and the radio. Our parents were born into them. Our parents survived TV, cars, and airplanes. We were born into them.  We survived cable television, computers, internet, mobile phones, smartphones, and social media. Our children were born into them. We will survive A.I. Our grandchildren will be born into it. Not only that, but as A.I. approaches convergence, our grandchildren will approach a different kind of convergence as well; one where they’ll be the closest humans have ever been to “humanity”. Of course, this all after A.I. finally learns how to count the number of “r”s in “strawberry”. Even though it is the best it has ever been, and every day it’s going to be the best it has ever been, it still has a long way to go. But again, they all did. The early days of all the above-mentioned technologies were disasters on so many levels, especially at the level of their acceptance by people.

I think the underlying reasons people were skeptical and afraid of any new major invention have always been fear of the unknown and loss of control. I strongly believe that that is the common thread in all the cases mentioned above and that is the reason for any pushback against A.I. I think if you think humans are in control (of anything really, but let’s say whatever control A.I. is taking away from us), then you have all the right to be afraid. I just happen to believe that “control” is an illusion. I also don’t believe we need it, anyway. But that’s a different topic. And, of course, the unknown is scary. With what a lot of humans are doing in the world right now, you have all the right to fear the unknown.

I, however, am too excited about the dissolution of technique and the disappearance of the gatekeepers of technique. I am really excited about getting closer to creating what I want to create instead of spending hours troubleshooting why I can’t hear the audio of my projection. Or waiting for the “expert” I paid very precious money from my production’s thin budget to troubleshoot it. Please, don’t take this personal. I don’t mean any specific person and I don’t think that you are doing this. But I don’t think you should be scared about losing your job if you’re a creator. If you’re a real creator, that is, I think you should be scared if you are someone who is “selling” technique or you are a gatekeeper of a technique. And I think you’re better than that. I truly believe you are. And if that is the case, I really hope that the advent of A.I. will help you see that your added value is not in your knowledge of how you use Photoshop. It is not whether you know how to use your body the way only Jacques Lecoq himself can teach you how. It is not whether you know coding or not. Those are things all Photoshop, Lecoq, and coding “experts” have in common. Your added value is in what you do with that knowledge and why. That is unique to you and that is what I (and everyone else) want from you.