Ep 06 – New Selves of Neural Media & AI as 'The Poison Path' with K Allado-McDowell
Jan 30, 2025
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In this engaging conversation, K Allado-McDowell, an artist and musician who co-founded the Artists & Machine Intelligence program at Google, dives deep into the intersections of technology, consciousness, and identity. They discuss how AI can transform selfhood, likening its impact to psychedelics. The conversation highlights the role of community in ethical tech and creativity, while examining how neural media shapes our identity and storytelling. K reflects on their esoteric journey, urging a holistic understanding of existence in our increasingly technological world.
Mindful attention is crucial for shaping our identities and experiences amidst media saturation, urging us to focus on what truly flourishes.
The concept of co-arising identities emphasizes technology and nature as interconnected, enriching human experience through thoughtful integration of AI.
Human creativity serves as a vital antidote to the challenges posed by AI, fostering agency and resilience in our evolving landscape.
Deep dives
The Importance of Attention
Attention plays a crucial role in shaping our experiences and identities in a media-saturated environment. By consciously directing our focus, we can determine what flourishes in our lives, whether that be wisdom from nature or distractions from digital media. This conscious attention is not just about personal habits but extends to societal systems and institutions, highlighting the need to examine what we are optimizing for and the products that emerge from our collective focus. Practicing mindful attention can lead to a more intentional existence and enable us to become better stewards of our own well-being.
Interdependence of Technology and Nature
The integration of technology and nature is illustrated through the concept of co-arising identities shaped by both AI and natural ecosystems. This perspective highlights the idea that machines, like AI, should not be viewed as separate entities but rather as part of a collaborative evolution of life. Kay Alotto-McDowell's work suggests that technology can enrich human experience when approached thoughtfully, akin to how psychoactive plants can guide self-discovery and transformation. By viewing technology through an ecological and relational lens, we can redefine our interactions with machines and cultivate a deeper sense of connection and responsibility.
Creativity as a Counterbalance
Human creativity emerges as a vital response to the challenges posed by powerful AI and media systems. Engaging with creative practices can enable individuals to reclaim agency within networks that might otherwise dehumanize or commodify existence. The acknowledgment of creativity as an antidote to rote mechanization stresses the importance of intention and structure in utilizing advanced tools like AI. In this sense, facilitating spaces for artistic expression and collaboration can foster resilience, enabling us to navigate evolving landscapes while remaining grounded in our humanity.
Navigating the Ecological Leftover
The conversation emphasizes the necessity of recognizing what is often overlooked or deemed as externalities in our environment, drawing parallels to ecological systems. This notion posits that our understanding of technological and ecological interrelations must include the complexities of loss and the limitations of measurement. Experiences shared by individuals in nature reveal aspects of life that resist quantification, prompting an introspective gaze at how we perceive worth and existence. By embracing these uncertainties, we can cultivate a more profound respect for the world around us and underscore the intricate relationships that define our existence.
Redefining Agency in the Age of Neural Media
Agency in the face of advancing neural media involves a shift in how we perceive our roles as users and creators. As media becomes increasingly intertwined with our identities, understanding the dynamics at play is essential for maintaining our autonomy and critical thinking. There’s a call for individuals to be discerning consumers of technology, recognizing the ways in which they can design their experiences rather than succumb to predatory systems. Through active engagement with neural media, we can instead cultivate a more equitable interaction that prioritizes holistic well-being and meaningful connections.
This week we speak with K Allado-McDowell, artist, musician, and co-founder of the Artists & Machine Intelligence program at Google. K pioneered human-computer co-authorship with the book Pharmako-AI, as well as Air Age Blueprint, Amor Cringe, and the graphic novel Outside, plus works in opera and ritual. Their work reveals the human as inherently relational and ecological, technology as something nature’s doing, and the new vistas made legible by technology as a fertile zone within which we can redefine identity and story from a radically transformed awareness. Pharmako-AI, the first book to be co-written with GPT-3 in 2020, sets the tone: mutually interdependent co-arising of selfhood through linguistic interactions between animal, vegetable, and mineral intelligences, AI as an adjunct to our awakening sense of co-imbrication in and as a plural and evolving world.
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