David Brooks on being human, Jonah Davids on sad psychologists, Dan Klein tempers techno optimism, Arnold Kling on AI mentor creation, Doc Hammer on wants/needs, and Scott Alexander Age of Em redux
Regarding AI art and authenticity. One has to ask how authenticity manifests itself in different types of art. Is authenticity in painting the same as authenticity in a novel? Kandinsky's paintings would not lose much value if they were created by AI instead of a real person. "Storm of Steel" by Junger, on the other hand, would have lost great deal of its value if it turned out that the personality that created it did not exist. Depending on the type of art - and according to the taste and temperament of the audience - different degrees of what Benjamin called "aura" are needed.
One French writer said that "to read books is to breathe in souls." I'm not a big believer in the idea that AI will succeed in creating a great novel. Which is not to say that the great novelists of the future won't use some form of AI to simulate the life course of the various characters they want to put in their work.
I would say that AI will produce a lot of art that will be appreciated and consumed with pleasure, but I don't think it will create anything that will count as part of the canon.
Regarding AI art and authenticity. One has to ask how authenticity manifests itself in different types of art. Is authenticity in painting the same as authenticity in a novel? Kandinsky's paintings would not lose much value if they were created by AI instead of a real person. "Storm of Steel" by Junger, on the other hand, would have lost great deal of its value if it turned out that the personality that created it did not exist. Depending on the type of art - and according to the taste and temperament of the audience - different degrees of what Benjamin called "aura" are needed.
One French writer said that "to read books is to breathe in souls." I'm not a big believer in the idea that AI will succeed in creating a great novel. Which is not to say that the great novelists of the future won't use some form of AI to simulate the life course of the various characters they want to put in their work.
I would say that AI will produce a lot of art that will be appreciated and consumed with pleasure, but I don't think it will create anything that will count as part of the canon.
AI as therapist reminds me strongly of the original ELIZA (and Joseph Weizenbaum's subsequent book Computer Power and Human Reason).
His critique of AI in general still stands, IMO, even though it was made in 1976.
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.