A.I.: Raging Against The Machine

 So, I'm a fan of the Dr. Demento radio show, that ran for years on terrestrial radio, and played novelty and comedy music and such. The good doctor is still with us and has taken his program online, where people can listen to weekly episodes at his website. 

There is also an official Facebook page dedicated to that program. I typically enjoy posting there and checking out posts from other fans. Unfortunately, the moderator there has made a commandment about A.I. music and videos. Apparently this includes even songs such as what I create, using my own lyrics, but having A.I. provide the music and vocals for my compositions. 

I find this to be very narrow-minded and short-sighted, and fear based nonsense. The moderator has gave his rationale for the ban on the divisiveness on the subject of A.I., and in his post explaining his actions he made clear his own views on the matter. I am trying to decide if I want to continue being in a group ran by such a person.

As pretty much anyone who knows me to any degree knows, I am an artist.  I have explained here more than once in posts that while there definitely are legitimate concerns regarding A.I., it should not be feared, but recognized as a tool, which is what it is. All groundbreaking technologies are met with skepticism and fear, going back to the industrial age and further. 

Motion pictures, radio, television, video games, computers, all have been subject to scrutiny, misunderstanding, and lack of comprehension, and worries over their societal impact. While a degree of the concerns are warranted, there is often a furor from certain quarters in each instance where some people are irrational in accepting the benefits of these technological advances due to misinformation, a lack of understanding or bias. 

One thing is dead certain, however: A.I., as with those other technologies, is not going away. So raging, literally, against the machine is a futile exercise. Best, instead, to harness what good is in the technology, and make it work for us humans, and not against the future. The train has started rolling and it isn't stopping. This is not my opinion, it is fact. Not sure there's an option you can jump off that train, either. So, to continue the metaphors, if you gotta go along for the ride, at least try to make it steer in a direction of your choosing as best as you can.

I've used A.I. as inspiration, and to assist, as with music, me in creating my own personal works of art. Like a pen and ink, I control how the tool works to enhance and realize my personal vision. And the resultant piece is every bit as much mine as anything I have created using any other tool, with me injecting my expression into the work in one manner or another. As with anything else I do, if others don't like what I do with A.I., then you don't have to listen, look, or whatever. But I am not asking for anyone else's approval in using it, anymore than I seek approval to choose what color marker I color with, or what editing software I use to edit videos.

So, back to our pal, the moderator on the Dr. Demento Facebook page. He has chosen to close off any comments to his commandment post. Fine. Maybe he can click his heels three times and the mean ol' A.I. technology will just vanish in a poof of smoke, but I wouldn't bet on that happening.

Shame... I was considering making a song on the Luddites and sharing it with him. You remember the Luddites? In the 19th century, there were groups of English workers who destroyed machinery, especially in cotton and woolen mills, that they believed was threatening their jobs. It... didn't stop the advancement of that technology, though. No, the technology only continued to advance, and society learned to incorporate it into our lives. You can't fight the future, but you can work with it to shape a better one.