Hi Paul,

Unlike many people I know, I’m extremely optimistic about AI. I think it’s a wonderful technology that could allow millions more people to realise their creative dreams. Many of my friends think it’s just a search engine that will take their job.

But I can imagine two very different futures for AI:

In one, we’re increasingly boxed in by algorithms consuming media tailor-made for an audience of one, rarely encountering anything unexpected. Contact with other people or the real world is limited.

I sometimes think about the Tianqi Emperor, a Ming emperor who loved carpentry. While he happily made elaborate wooden objects, his eunuchs took control of the government, persecuted their enemies and looted the empire. He was the most powerful man in China, but lost control over what was happening outside his workshop caught up in the joy of woodworking; distracted by pleasure.

I worry we could all end up a bit like him. Surrounded by extraordinary technology, able to make almost anything we can imagine, our every want catered for, but increasingly isolated and unaware of what’s happening outside our little palaces.

Tianqi’s creativity wasn’t enough. You can spend your whole life making beautiful things and still be cut off from the world. We need friends, shared experiences, other people to surprise us and occasionally drag us into things we’d never have chosen ourselves. 

I used to love social media. Keeping up with friends and family was a pleasure. Somewhere along the way it became an endless stream of content from strangers, designed to keep us watching. It’s strange we have these extraordinary devices for connecting people, yet so much of what we do with them is solitary.

I think AI could take this much further in either direction. We could disappear into perfectly personalised pleasure palaces, or we could have more time for people we care about, more opportunities to make things together, and more ways to express ourselves.

I like the idea of AI as a companion and guide that coaxes us into doing things; points us in the right direction and sets us up with people we’ll get on with. Rather than one that does everything for us. Something that encourages us to get out into the world rather than making it so comfortable at home that we rarely leave.

Looking back, I think this is a thread running through a lot of the things I’ve made. They’re quite different projects, and some are frankly ridiculous, but I like making things that give people a little more control over technology, help them connect with one another, or are simply fun to share.

David Graeber said “The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.” That’s true and I’d like to help create a wonderful, optimistic future. 

I’ve been creating a lot with AI recently, mainly for friends and family or just to amuse myself.

I also made some things for Suno and for hackathons.

I’ve been thinking a lot about attention and motivation. Looking back at this I think the through line is taking control of life online (which is just life nowadays). Or perhaps just living on your own terms.

I’d much rather spend my time making things that get people out of their little palaces than making the palaces more comfortable.

The CULTURE, 

long united, must divide,
long divided, must unite

Here are some of the things I’ve made. You can also find my pre-AI projects at the bottom of the page.