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In 2015, my friend, Jim Clark, invited me to attend what was then a groundbreaking conversation at the World Summit on Technological Unemployment, hosted at the TIME magazine Conference Center. Jim laid it out pretty clearly: the tech revolution was set to shake the very foundation of how we work, live and interact. The idea was that technology, for all its benefits, was on a path that could just as easily dismantle as it could build, especially when it came to jobs and industries. It was a lot to take in, predicting a future where the balance between technological advancement and societal well-being seemed perilously thin. The year prior, at his 2014 World Technology Network conference, I was shaken by a talk Edward Snowden gave, in particular, his sharing the idea that “the greatest tragedy is revelation met with apathy.”
Fast forward to today, and those discussions aren’t just theoretical anymore. OpenAI’s announcement of its text-to-video technology, Sora, alongside the rapid integration of tools like Midjourney and ChatGPT into our lives, feels like we’re living in the very future Jim warned us about. It’s thrilling to see how far we can push the boundaries of AI, but it’s also a wake-up call. The speed at which everything’s moving brings a mix of excitement and a healthy dose of anxiety — there’s a mysterium tremendum vibe to it all, an overwhelming awe and terror in the face of something wholly other. It’s that feeling of standing at the edge of a vast, unknown landscape, full of potential but also riddled with ethical landmines.
In June of this year, my forthcoming work in collaboration with my dear friend and artist Yoshino will debut in the world. Our project, The Artist Decoded Tarot, was developed over a year ago, in the early stages of AI conversation, and our intention was to create a cultural relic that would inspire a deeper conversation around the collaborative use of AI in the sense of generative art while fostering a greater connection to the human imagination.
We wanted to tap into that mix of wonder and caution by creating something that married AI’s capabilities with human creativity. Each tarot card, a blend of generative AI, digital painting and collage was our way of exploring this new frontier — a kind of roadmap for navigating the beautiful yet complex relationship between humans and machines. The guidebook, with 78 unique creative prompts, is our nudge for everyone to explore the primacy of their imagination, artist or not, and to also encourage taking their creativity offline and interacting with the physical world in new and perspective-shifting ways.
For Yoshino and me, the project underscored a belief we share: the human imagination is this incredible, boundless space that’s always interacting with the world around us, shaping it in ways both big and small. It’s where the real magic happens, where formless ideas form into something tangible. In the midst of all this technological advancement, it’s easy to forget that. But it’s crucial we remember — the technology and algorithms might be the tools, but the human imagination — that vast inner landscape of infinite creative potential that is always in dialogue with time and space is the common artery.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
As we stand at this juncture, propelled into a future once only imagined, which is simultaneously full of promise and peril, there are essential questions we must continually ask ourselves as we navigate the terrain.
How do we maintain the balance between leveraging AI for progress while safeguarding our ethical — and creative — principles?
In what ways can we ensure that AI serves to enhance human capability rather than diminish it?
How do we cultivate a culture of responsibility among AI developers and users alike to foster technologies that contribute positively to society?
And finally, how do we keep the human imagination at the forefront of this technological evolution, ensuring that it is our creativity and not our creations that define the future?
As we ponder these questions, let us not lose sight of the mysterium tremendum that surrounds the advance of AI — the wonder and the terror. The path forward is profoundly human and will require us to blend our technological aspirations with the wisdom of ethical stewardship, ensuring that as we build the future, we remain anchored in the values that make us unique forms of life in this precious world of ours.
In the end, it is the human imagination that holds the key to navigating the complexities of our relationship with AI. A revelation met with integrity, not apathy. It is through our creativity, empathy, innovative spirit and ethical considerations that we will find the most fulfilling ways to integrate this into our lives, enhancing our world without losing the essence of our humanity.
