This is Of Common Clay, a love-letter-like documentation in pursuit of grounding myself to the common clay we walk on and are made of.
Embracing technology doesn't mean we're letting the machines take over. Instead, we become more human. AI does this by automating the routine work that clogs up our lives; managing tasks, processing documents, and more: the very actions that make us machine-like. According to cyborg anthropologist Amber Case, successful technology gets out of our way, enabling us to live to the fullest. "We're co-creating each other all the time," she said. In the process of innovating with technology, we reconstruct ourselves.
Artificial intelligence—it’s a buzzword that seeds welcomed curiosity from those on board with its evolution despite a human labour takedown the threatened propose. In the 50s, AI would’ve been described as a machine performing any task that would’ve previously only been achievable by human intelligence. It was the case of weak computers that kicked back the funding of its discovery until the late 80’s. However, with accelerated computer processing technology that exists today, an all-time-high prevalence and interest in research have helped spread risk and overhead costs. The margins of growth have only climbed wider and higher.
Though seemingly recent, we’ve come a long way from chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov (who has since written a book detailing his experience) and world’s best Go player Ke Jie having been beaten by AI. With robotic arms in the kitchen, Amazon groceries that probe into consumer behaviour, and machines that more accurately detect early onset symptoms of Parkinson’s disease than doctors through walking pattern variability, it’s only predictable that an epidemic of fear is outlined by the corrosion of [our] opportunity. It’s difficult not to feel threatened when a Google developer claims its AI-powered robot had seemingly gained sentience.
As of writing this, AI still operates rectilinearly. Its actions are driven by linear input processing from data acquired online, meaning it may absorb and retain information more efficiently. Nevertheless, it doesn’t (yet?) possess the unique ability to operate like our brains. The brain’s biochemical makeup allows it to perform complex abstracts and act in acutely nuanced contexts. The bottom line is we know our brains don’t operate in a straight line.
Maybe I’m an optimist in saying that people simply aren’t fungible. With the influx of news I absorb daily—post-modernism’s influence aside—the current state of our society still provides me with reasonable reassurance that AI is heading in the right direction. While we should consider the misinformation we hear and the ways AI can affect aspects of our future, through structure that has historically been held together by human ability, feigning ignorance of AI’s potential would be the wrong move.
AI only acts on a set of capabilities determined within the social, cultural, and political contexts of everyday life that users present them with, so we must take measures in consonance with that. Whatever happens moving forward may not be a case of direct causation from its inventors, but we must hold ourselves accountable in lobbying for more concrete, relevant, and up-to-date courses of action to address its legal and moral implications.
Having said that, tech research firm Gartner reveals that 37 percent of companies now run on AI configured to their businesses. The ones I’m most excited about would probably be conferences like the Adobe Max 2022. They splash at the initiatives we’ve made to accommodate advancement in the tech landscape and the direction it’s headed toward. Personally, a lot of neat, novel AI programs and media out there have piqued my interest. I’ll list a few to get the ball rolling:
#1 DALL·E 2
Website
If you’ve read any recent AI headlines, you might’ve heard of DALL·E 2. Punch in any specific phrase and see your art come alive! While there are lots of AI art generators out there, this is considered one of the most accurate ones. The highly coveted text-to-image AI generative tool was previously withheld from public use. However, as of recent, OpenAI, the company behind the photorealistic powerhouse, has now made it readily available for everyone, wiping the platform of any access waitlists. Here are some of my creations:
#2 Parsnip
iOS, Android
Dubbed ‘Duolingo for cooking', I’ve admired this Reddit-born startup’s concept for the longest time. Unlike following a straightforward recipe online, Parnsip gamifies the hows and whys of techniques used in the kitchen and uses machine learning to suggest recipes chosen from a million options online. You’re in charge of the skill level you begin with and the produce you want to cook with, so Parsnip simply provides the curriculum according to the information you provide. “The benefit of selling confidence is that we get to build a scalable zero marginal cost software product instead of an operationally intensive physical product,” says Founder Andrew Mao. He also runs a Substack newsletter where he talks about its value creation and rollout process in more detail.
#3 Mem.ai
iOS, Desktop app
This agile note-taking app is equipped with AI that links your notes with your others containing similar ideas. Its use of tags and timelines has removed the need for any folders. Besides that, it allows you to work collaboratively with other users and, like mymind, it allows you to save any webpage to a central vault. A beta version of mem.ai is available on the App Store when you download TestFlight, Apple’s very own testing app that allows developers to carry out user trials prior to an app’s official launch. Efficiency and organisation’s never been quite the same after this!
#4 Talk to Books
Website
A cross between Google Search and Google Books, this AI-driven tool enables you to explore topics in an unconventional way through book passages. Through Talk to Books, your searches should result to a narrowed-down variety of more purposeful material. This access to statements from authors, most likely experts in their field, not only provides you with answers but allows you to build on the questions you had initially.
#5 PictureThis — Plant Identifier
iOS, Android
I’m probably not alone in admitting that we’re not as nature-savvy as the previous generations, especially when it comes to simple things like plant species. Through a user-built botanical database of 17,000+ species, this plant identification app’s utility has personally grown for me, particularly when buying from plant collections on Facebook Marketplace or simply trying to better appreciate greenery at the parks. Flowers, herbs, leaves, trees: you name it! This one’s got you covered.
An onslaught of fear-mongering media has rendered many of us somewhat intolerant and illiberal toward adapting to the changes that come with integrating AI into commercial and personal spaces. Artificial intelligence is considerably farther along in its development, but most would agree that we are still at the beginning of turning theoretical understanding into practical application1.
AI, however, promises to be disruptive. Legal and AI experts must then team up to constantly evaluate and reform laws and regulations that apply to the different fields and cases of AI in use. At the top of my head, I can foresee issues arising with deepfake and fraud as DALL·E 2 has lifted the ban on using real faces. With copywriting AI, we’re unsure of the implications of plagiarism in AI-generated work.
All that said, it’s our role to continue educating ourselves on the double-edged sword of an environment that tech operates in and how it bleeds and will continue to bleed into our lives. In the meantime, I think it’s pretty thrilling playing around with the cool stuff these creators have come up with. That’s all for now though!
Moving alongside, against, and toward the current of these times,
Kristen <3
Information Technology for Management: Driving Digital Transformation to Increase Local and Global Performance, Growth and Sustainability by Efraim Turban, Carol Pollard, Gregory Wood