The impulse of "I want something like this [painting/film/novel/game] but different in specific ways" has always been a driving force leading to the acquisition of skills in that particular field. The problem you describe here with junk content seems to scratch that itch without inspiring any artistic endeavor or learning of how to make that content. Not everyone who feels that desire will become a great artist or writer or whatever, and they may just commission someone else to paint or write what they want, but there's real learning that goes on from that drive and it sounds like it's being short circuited by new tech that removes any friction from getting someone else to do it for you. I wonder how AI can be used as tool to help inspire skill acquisition and creativity (since it's not possible to put back in the box now) rather than, as you describe here, just providing enough of a high to numb an urge that could have been channeled productively.
Ouch. My mind immediately thought that one could use generative AI systems not just to cheaply develop such digital heroin to order, but to tie that in to fast personal feedback loops, so that it's not just customised to what you think you want, but ever-more-closely optimised to what the system detects is sucking you in deeply. (Or is otherwise optimising the value you are prepared to supply.) The digital ad space has already made the paradigm-changing shift to rapid testing and targeted customisation so it's more a matter of joining up existing systems than inventing something wholly new.
Not sure I've posted this to you before, but with the BBC in mind I think about this blog post a lot, and share it with my colleagues. Yes the BBC is a big part of it, and sometimes people kick heroin.
Henry's discussion of the polycrisis triggered this comment about the intellectual history of which I am only dimly aware.
This discussion of the polycrisis reminded me of the Tinbergen rule (you need as many instruments as targets) and then of being taught control theory 50 years ago (about the time of Eno's visit). One of the things I was told was that control theory was just a more staid name for cybernetics, which was associated with Norbert Wiener (Beer was not mentioned). Is management cybernetics different from control theory?
I expect this is in the book, but the colonial structures of the book trade still apply even in the era of instant communications. I can't find an e-book version available in Australia
A vaguely related point I've always wanted to make. The organization of sports mean that most people who attend sporting matches see their team win most of the time. That's because of
(i) home ground advantage
(ii) the fact that winning teams get more followers
As far as I can tell (i) is tacitly encouraged by sporting leagues - no penalties for giving the visitors lousy facilities, for example. In most sports, but not (Association) football, draft systems are used to keep (ii) in check to some extent.
The impulse of "I want something like this [painting/film/novel/game] but different in specific ways" has always been a driving force leading to the acquisition of skills in that particular field. The problem you describe here with junk content seems to scratch that itch without inspiring any artistic endeavor or learning of how to make that content. Not everyone who feels that desire will become a great artist or writer or whatever, and they may just commission someone else to paint or write what they want, but there's real learning that goes on from that drive and it sounds like it's being short circuited by new tech that removes any friction from getting someone else to do it for you. I wonder how AI can be used as tool to help inspire skill acquisition and creativity (since it's not possible to put back in the box now) rather than, as you describe here, just providing enough of a high to numb an urge that could have been channeled productively.
Re: football - isn't the scenario you outline Football Manager 2024 with the money cheat?
And yes I have tried it and it is therapeutic for a bit, but it does get boring.
Ouch. My mind immediately thought that one could use generative AI systems not just to cheaply develop such digital heroin to order, but to tie that in to fast personal feedback loops, so that it's not just customised to what you think you want, but ever-more-closely optimised to what the system detects is sucking you in deeply. (Or is otherwise optimising the value you are prepared to supply.) The digital ad space has already made the paradigm-changing shift to rapid testing and targeted customisation so it's more a matter of joining up existing systems than inventing something wholly new.
MMMM??
I don't see the attraction of the digital world.
I want to ride a real horse in the real Sierras.
I want to race my real little sailboat against other real sailboats and their skippers on a high wind day in the San Francisco Bay.
I want to build real small wood boats from concept to completion.
As my life winds down, I can see living in the digital world but it is not where I want to be.
Not sure I've posted this to you before, but with the BBC in mind I think about this blog post a lot, and share it with my colleagues. Yes the BBC is a big part of it, and sometimes people kick heroin.
https://dirt.fyi/article/2023/03/the-taste-economy
Henry's discussion of the polycrisis triggered this comment about the intellectual history of which I am only dimly aware.
This discussion of the polycrisis reminded me of the Tinbergen rule (you need as many instruments as targets) and then of being taught control theory 50 years ago (about the time of Eno's visit). One of the things I was told was that control theory was just a more staid name for cybernetics, which was associated with Norbert Wiener (Beer was not mentioned). Is management cybernetics different from control theory?
I expect this is in the book, but the colonial structures of the book trade still apply even in the era of instant communications. I can't find an e-book version available in Australia
A vaguely related point I've always wanted to make. The organization of sports mean that most people who attend sporting matches see their team win most of the time. That's because of
(i) home ground advantage
(ii) the fact that winning teams get more followers
As far as I can tell (i) is tacitly encouraged by sporting leagues - no penalties for giving the visitors lousy facilities, for example. In most sports, but not (Association) football, draft systems are used to keep (ii) in check to some extent.