Artists! Save the world!

If there weren’t enough to worry about in the world which stems from human activity, along comes artificial intelligence. Let’s remember the old adage about computers: rubbish in, rubbish out. Can we rely on artificial intelligence to correct or improve upon the human invention of this new breed of what are essentially calculating machines with inputs? Here’s a fact: the roll-out of self-driving vehicles in the UK is being tested under the regime of one Chris Grayling. The man who as Transport Secretary ‘doesn’t run the railways.’ Call me old fashioned but I don’t think I want to be around when these vehicles are generally allowed on the road. If we embrace this so–called 'intelligence' model we’re going to get a lot more Boeing 737 Maxes.

As regards the big argument in favour of artificial intelligence – that it will lead to economic growth and hence more jobs, I don’t buy that. The holy grail of the developers of artificial intelligence is that it will learn how to improve itself – but for whose profit? Technology always leads to the accumulation of capital in fewer hands – witness Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google and the delightful Zuckerberg. Of course there will be some spin-offs, I wouldn’t argue that hasn’t happened with the Internet, but the development model we are witnessing has produced not only the unprecedented accumulation of wealth in a few hands but also an almost unchallengeable power structure which has clearly left the political domain well behind. Actual democracy has been overtaken in favour of the pretend democracy of social media.

Perhaps the resistance to this seemingly unstoppable trend lies in the hands of artists. Art could be the last human activity which simply cannot be replicated by AI. I am not convinced that any computer could demonstrate originality. The fightback begins with paint, brushes, pencils and ink. Or clay, stone or whatever. I challenge any computer to produce something from scratch which means nothing. Would a computer understand ‘produce something which means nothing?’ An artist could.