The world is changing rapidly, and no one knows where we are heading. This can feel scary and confusing, especially when we feel like we're being left behind and have to figure it out alone.

This journey isn't so much about judging the technology as it is about asking ourselves how we want to relate to and hold the changes on the road ahead. And who we want to navigate this journey with. However uncomfortable and undesirable it might feel, once we accept the inevitability of change, we can choose our position in relation to it. Who do we want to be? What is our priority? What kind of world do we want to create? Who else wants this too?

When we connect with like-spirited people, we can build better things together around shared values and meaningful visions. None of us has to do this alone.

That's what this trip is about.

Many humans have an irrepressible instinct to care about, create alongside, and connect with one another. This island will hold us if we let it. We can collaborate with it. When we move around it slowly we will start to sense the possibilities that can support us to thrive in very meaningful ways.

What is a word or phrase that comes to mind when you hear the term, Artificial Intelligence?

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What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial comes from the same route as art, which means to fit together through human skill, theory, or systems.

Intelligence is the capability (capacity and ability) to acquire, filter, and apply knowledge and skills.

Artificial intelligence is a broad term describing computer systems that learns to recognise patterns, filter information (distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant data), and produce specified outcomes. They are trained to learn and adapt to new information.

This technology can help us better understand and address some of the world's biggest challenges.

We also see it used in many aspects of everyday life, like chat-bots, face recognition software, speech-to-text apps (e.g., for translation), image generators, and even washing machines.

• Where do you already interact with AI in everyday life?
• Where has it been helpful?
• Where has it been unhelpful?

How is AI transforming our engagement with society, culture, and work?

The creative industries have experienced some of AI's biggest and most immediate effects so far. There is a fear that creativity tools such as image, text, and audio generators will replace human artists. We are already seeing this in marketing with AI copywriters and content creators for social media.

Suno.ai was launched a couple of weeks before our first live session, and I used it to produce a song about our journey to A.I.sland. It demonstrates something wonderful that such creativity tools give us; anyone can express themselves in funny and creative ways even if they don't have the ability to do it themselves. In my conversation with Marc Winn, he described how liberating this is for those who have lots to say but struggle to say it through limitations and impairments.

Connecting With Humanity in a World of Machines

How does the world look when artists co-exist with AI?

I am driven by the question of where we find humanity in a world of machines. The more I've explored AI technology, the more I am drawn to ask, how can I use this to be more human and to encourage, support, and amplify the beauty of our creative spirit?

In other words, how can I build my relationship with this changing world in a way that encourages, supports, and amplifies the unique beauty of everyone's creativity?

This video is an example of me doing that. I took the song and lip-synced to it. Why? because I found the idea funny and wanted to share the joke with others.

In the sound anchor, the Harbour Master says:

"This is an island that amplifies the heart's questions. It mirrors our depths - giving rise to new expressions of the things we value, the stories we tell, and the things that drive us deep within. Some get lost in their own reflection. Others in the conditioning of power. Some get caught up in the hero's journey, which doesn't tell the whole story. Everyone is invited to explore with a spirit of collaboration, openness, curiosity, and community. Anyone who tells you they know exactly what is going on here is caught in the old paradigm. The person who positions themselves as the expert who can teach you all there is to know is lost. A motto in a world of limitless possibility: we are free to be imperfect because there is no way to get it right. Imperfection is liberation."

- The Harbour Master

We have seen a great scramble to exploit AI (and peoples' fears of it) for personal financial gain. This is to be expected because whenever new fields emerge, people are always waiting to make a quick buck. But we can do our best to ignore them so we might model and amplify other approaches that fit who we are and what we value.

What's more, I believe there is room in our world for a whole mix of creative approaches. If we choose to, we can maintain the integrity and tradition in craftsmanship, artistic technique, and analogue methods. We can share our passion for those things without passing self-righteous judgement in the process. It's not a zero-sum game. If we choose to nurture it, there is space for everything and everyone.

How can AI empower us to be more creative?
What concerns do you have about its impact on creativity?

There are several areas of concern regarding AI technology's ethical uses and outcomes.

For example, generative technology like ChatGPT can lack transparency and evidence, generating, spreading, and reinforcing misinformation (by mining the Internet for data, it uses vast swathes of spurious sources). However, if humans interfere by excluding or prioritising particular sources, there is an ethical concern surrounding bias with the system reflecting the values and beliefs of its designer. There is a question around whether AI could ever be truly independent from these influences, and if so, whether we would even want such a system.

Other ethical concerns and challenges involve privacy, discrimination, safety, moral responsibilities and accountability, intellectual property, and copyright.

Some questions we might consider when thinking about AI:

• What do we want to create together?
• What is missing?
• What do we need to protect?
• What is at stake?

What ethical principles should guide the development and use of AI?

If you listen to AI experts, you soon realise they all have different opinions. Many are predicting different things. And there is a wide range of advice for best use. That's partly because, by nature of the technology itself, the landscape is constantly changing and will continue to do so.

The best thing we can do is choose how we want to approach the change it brings. And to find people to explore it alongside.

In the sound anchor, the Harbour Master suggests picking something off the island floor to hold in your pocket to remind you what matters most.

Marc Winn asks, "If anything were possible and you could only change one thing about the world, what would it be?"

Run your fingers over the object in your pocket. It represents the problem you want to solve, the story you want to tell, or the feeling you want to spread. Technology can become a window or a wall, giving you the tools to make it happen or distracting you from what matters most.

How do you want to greet the changes you will inevitably encounter in the coming months and years?

Write a note to yourself about this trip...

• What have you seen?
• What is something you are thinking about or reflecting on?
• What are you hopeful about?
• What spirit do you want to carry with you in this season of change?
• What is one thing you would love to learn more about as a result of this journey?

Free Tools

Are you interested in getting started with some creative AI tools? You can try these.

• Music - Suno
• Writing - ChatGPT
• BoredHumans (images, haikus, lyrics, poems etc)