There are many benefits to A.I., such as being able to generate beautiful art, inspiring music, captivating writing, and mesmerizing videos. It democratizes creation (people can now create what’s in their minds), lowers costs (replacing human labor with algorithms), and enables hyper-personalization (works can be made just for you). The benefits are big and important.
But there is also something soul-crushing about it. People spend decades learning a craft and then see an A.I. make something...
More
uniqueness
The Power of “Familiar Yet Different”
When trying new things, what we like (or benefit from) most is usually familiar to us, yet somehow also distinct.
1. Music: we prefer songs that are similar to others we like but that feel novel. If a song is too similar to what we know, then it's derivative or boring (like listening to the same music on loop), but if it's too novel, it is usually unappealing or dissonant. Music from other cultures can be hard for us to appreciate until we've listened to enough of it.
2. Learning: we lear...
More
The Museum of Questioned Quality
What would a fine art museum be like, if it were optimized relentlessly for what you care about?
Within the limits of my ability to model my own preferences, I think my ideal fine art museum would be what I'm going to call "The Museum of Questioned Quality." I suspect lots of people would find this museum concept distasteful, to say the least. So before describing what the museum is, I'll explain why the idea is appealing to me and what the idea sprouts from.
The Museum of Questioned ...
More