On rage-sparking bullshit
Hi! I will interrupt our irregularly scheduled programming on art because I have read things that sparked rage instead of joy.
First up: I had to check whether I was reading something on The Onion, but no, as far as I can tell this interview on AI clones came from the CEO of Zoom.
"You do not have to have five or six Zoom calls every day. You can leverage the AI to do that. [...] Why do we need to work five days a week? [...] Why not spend more time with your family? Why not focus on some more creative things, giving you back your time, giving back to the community and society to help others, right? Today, the reason why we cannot do that is because every day is busy, five days a week. It’s boring."
Well, maybe Zoom truly cares about employees and users, and checks notes, of course, they already ordered people back to the office to make sure they are busy and bored. They could have kept working remotely with their own product, but of course not.
"AI will tell me, 'Eric, you have five meetings scheduled today. You do not need to join four of the five. You only need to join one. You can send a digital version of yourself.'"
Woa. I can't imagine the thought process that discards writing an email, delegating more responsibilities, etc., and lands on using a digital avatar to clean up their calendar. Can you imagine how many meetings we’d have if we were expected to be in more than one at the same time?!
The Jevons paradox explains making something more ‘efficient’ will only increase the demand. Instead of the 4-day workweek, the outcome I drew is a lot more likely.
And I didn’t even bring in all the dark and twisted doppelgänger artworks. Another dystopia as product roadmap.
Overall, this interview is exactly what I would have expected from a digital avatar: coherent sentences unbothered by reality. Which reminds me of this quote from Harry G. Frankfurt: On Bullshit.
Someone who lies and someone who tells the truth are playing on opposite sides, so to speak, in the same game […] one is guided by the authority of the truth, while the response of the other defies that authority and refuses to meet its demands. The bullshitter ignores these demands altogether. He does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.
While it makes me feel smart to point the nonsense, or to wonder if a semi-useful employee AI avatar is realistic or just another mirage promise, ultimately it doesn’t matter. Bullshitting is not a serious conversation, and I struggle to find that on AI and art. Where are all the serious people at?
Please subscribe if you’re one of the serious people. Or forward it to one.
And there is an article on The Onion about this: Guy Who Sucks At Being A Person Sees Huge Potential In AI.
Later, J
Ps: I came across this cathartic article: I Will Fucking Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again. Compared to this, my rage seems tame. Next time.