A.I. PHONE HOME
AI Brainbleed |
By Tom Wachunas
For it
is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the
intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar?
Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of
the world? - 1 Cor.1:19-20
“The
sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore
intelligence.” —Jean Baudrillard
“The
development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human
race….It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing
rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete,
and would be superseded.” — Stephen Hawking
Here’s my newest artwork – a messy,
mixed-media painted assemblage which I have titled AI Brainbleed. Embedded
in all those twisting sketchy swirls, splotches and half-inch-thick paint blobs
are various broken remnants of common electronic devices (mostly I-phone
components and tv remote sticks), intended as a general reference to the
dizzying, complex reality of Infomation Technology, empowering
the www. Woefully Wobbly World. And at the core of
it all there’s that inflection (or infection) named AI. Artificial
Intelligence.
Artificial = fake, unnatural, false. Superficial
imitation. Think of AI as having our minds progressively altered, or amputated,
and replaced with prosthetic robots. AI= Algorithmic Insemination,
creating a new ”smart” us.
This
artwork is a symbol of my spiritual concerns about navigating and understanding
the conditions and circumstances of human existence in a progressively tech-addicted,
distressed and duplicitous world. A world immersed and floundering in the
confusing confluence of darkness and light. Is our growing attachment to AI - and
all its collateral manifestations and mutations - a help or a hindrance? Panacea or placebo? Cure
or curse?