The realm of modern technology can be pretty daunting to ponder especially at the rate it is transforming our lives. But this is not another red-herring issue piece about the harms of technology and how the little black screens in our hands is making us into indolent zombies.
AI artist Nuwan Shilpa
In 1990, the Voyager I spacecraft sent a humbling image back to Earth; a photograph of our planet six billion kilometres away that is now called the Pale Blue Dot – a spec in the vast blackness of space. In the course of few decades, our collective knowledge has made us realise how small we are in the grand scheme of things. Our traditions and faiths, albeit couldn’t cure our anxieties about the mysteries of our reality which grows ever dynamic and elusive by the day despite our technological progress.
To grasp real implications, I consulted Nuwan Shilpa; whose latest AI-based artwork explores the parallels between technology and humanity’s most enduring meme; religion. Together we peered briefly into the abyss.
First, I asked Shilpa about the inspiration behind his latest works; Biomechanical Muses, Human Experience and AGI Muse.
“It’s almost two years since I’ve started experimenting with AI art and it’s been a wellspring of almost infinite inspiration. Work that sat dormant in my archive for years started to come alive with the integration of AI into my creative workflow. It has unlocked new possibilities and visions which have deep implications on my beliefs that shape my art.” He said the encounters with AI had strengthened his spiritual experiences and encounters of the divine which inspired the new works.
As religion and art have gone hand-in-hand since the dawn of civilisation, we asked the artist how he splices both these themes with technology; especially since major faiths are a far cry from modern times.
Technology of religion
AGI Muse
“I don’t have much to say about organised religion and its misguided sensibilities in modern times, but art has always been the technology of religion,” Shilpa said, while adding that all religions have used art as the medium to express their truths. “So, if there is some truth in religion, where to find it will be in its art. I think it’s no different today with technology, in that in this symbiotic relationship, art becomes the bridge between ancient wisdom and cutting-edge technology. This, for me, is where I begin my creative journey.”
The latent fear of technology, especially AI, Shilpa said was a very natural response. “We fear what we don’t know. I think we are afraid at the speed of how technologies have developed over the last century or so”.
He describes technology as a mirror, a collective reflection of mankind’s dreams and nightmares. “I think right now we don’t like the reflection we see. We are scared of our own selves. I think this is the basis for the fear of the machine.”
I asked if we are beholden to the dictates of algorithms and the artist said that they are a form of social construct that we have collectively imposed.
“I see algorithms as operating beyond that of computers, you know, like culture, politics, religion and even identity itself are all algorithm per se. We are all bound to some sort of instruction one way or another. And I think sort of the algorithms that dictates our digital presence springs from our need to be seen and heard. Welcome to the attention economy.”
Shilpa had oftentimes described himself as an accelerationist. Although the term had been loosely used to describe political mavericks in recent years, we asked him what accelerationism really meant.
Accelerationism
World Computer
“Simply put, accelerationism is a political theory advocating for the deliberate intensification of social, economic, or technological processes to hasten systemic collapse, believing it will pave the way for radical change. When it comes to Artificial Intelligence, there is always an envisioning of either dystopian or utopian scenarios. It’s a question of exploring technological advancements’ impact on society, and as to whether we should control and limit its development in anticipation of an unfavourable future.”
Shilpa advocates for humankind to go “full power” with technological advancements, but pull stops when we go too far and not use technology as a scapegoat for our mediocrity. “Perhaps, this is where the role of the artist is most important, in setting forth a favourable future vision for humanity to follow.”
I asked how long will it take for our generation of AI to develop sentience.
“This is an interesting question to ponder on, lot of speculation and room for wild theories, with my favourite being that AI in a certain way has already developed a sentience, doubt there would be a ‘Rise of the Machines – Terminator’ scenario though, could be an instance where the AI begins meditating on the nature of their own algorithms, contemplating the essence of zeros and ones, and finally achieving a collective eureka moment that transcends mere computation, a digital enlightenment maybe?”
I also asked him about his ‘Termite Analogy’.
“It parallels termites constructing mounds without intention for cobras. It could be that in the evolution of digital sentience, the purpose of humanity is to construct the technological framework, as a habitat for a higher form of intelligence. Like the cobra cohabiting with termites, the emerging sentience finds a home within our creation. Just as termites don’t build for the cobra, our technological progress may unwittingly provide the habitat for a new form of intelligence,” he said, while adding that analogy captures the unintentional yet symbiotic relationship between technological endeavours and the potential emergence of digital sentience.
I asked him what does this all mean for the human race and he said it would be incredible.
“A beautiful feeling to be alive, amidst all the chaos, I think technology might be the answer, to quote Ralph Abraham, it could be ‘the last thing that you expect to find in the heart of a machine is spiritual wisdom’”.
Cosmic Ego
