Local Disturbances

"Episode 11: AI and the Construction of Meaning" from "Local Disturbances: Shorts" explores the concept of meaning-making in human life and its contrast with artificial intelligence (AI). Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin's philosophy, the episode delves into how humans construct meaning through their unique experiences, contexts, and subjective interpretations, a process Bakhtin refers to as "consummation."

The episode illustrates this with an example of two people experiencing a woman singing near a bus stop, highlighting how each individual's perspective and background inform their interpretation of the event. It argues that while humans are constantly assembling experiences into meaningful wholes, AI systems tend to dissect and categorize information, lacking the ability to form a subjective "point of view."

The narrative criticizes the reliance on AI for decision-making, noting that AI systems amplify pre-existing narratives and ideologies, potentially overshadowing individual experiences and interpretations. It expresses concern about the goals and values embedded within AI systems, which often prioritize efficiency and orderliness over the richness of human experience.

Ferment AI, a key focus of the episode, is presented as an initiative aiming to support projects that embrace Bakhtin’s emphasis on the primacy of lived experience and its specificity. The goal is to encourage art that challenges conventional ways of constructing meaning and proposes new values, thereby questioning the dominant narratives perpetuated by AI systems.

The episode invites the audience to reflect on their own process of meaning-making and to consider the implications of relying on AI for interpreting and understanding the world. It advocates for a greater appreciation of human subjectivity and the richness of lived experiences in the face of increasingly automated decision-making processes.

Words by Jerrold McGrath

Sound by Koohyar Habibi

Production by Kasra Goodarznezhad

"Episode 10: Technologies of Reoccupation and Restoration" from "Local Disturbances: Shorts" delves into the relationship between humans, technology, and the environment, reflecting on the historical and cultural implications of land use. The episode draws on the personal story of the host’s family, who were involved in the great Matheson Fire of 1916 in Northern Ontario, to illustrate the Western perspective of land as a set of rights rather than responsibilities.

The episode contrasts this Western view with Indigenous perspectives, which see land as entailing a set of responsibilities, exemplified by the Indigenous people's efforts to restore and return the gifts of the land. This difference in perspective is highlighted in the context of recent wildfires in British Columbia and the different responses of the Nlaka’pamux community and the village of Lytton.

The narrative criticizes the Western approach of prioritizing efficiency and growth, leading to slashing and burning practices that have long-term devastating effects on the environment. It points out that while institutions are formed to prevent such disasters, the real work of reoccupation and restoration often falls to local communities and grassroots support.

The episode raises concerns about how artificial intelligence and automated systems, designed with the values of measurement and utility, amplify these destructive approaches to the natural world. It suggests the need for technologies that embody reciprocity and gratitude, promoting a more sustainable and respectful interaction with the environment.

Concluding with a call to question the dominant ideologies and assumptions, the episode advocates for disobedient technologies that support different narratives and approaches to reoccupation and restoration. It emphasizes the importance of learning from past choices and making decisions that allow for alternative narratives to inform how we interact with the natural world.

"Episode 9: Play and Algorithmic Culture" from "Local Disturbances: Shorts" delves into the concept of play as a potential form of resistance to the automation and algorithmic shaping of our lives. It suggests that play, being an activity without a direct objective, could disorder the assumptions of systems designed around efficiency and growth.

The episode illustrates how humans navigate different spaces by adapting to, avoiding, or resisting their rules. It proposes play as a fourth response category, one that shows indifference to a system's desires and offers little useful data for automated systems to learn from.

An experiment conducted by UKAI in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Toronto is described, where experts participated in a role-playing game set in a world dominated by AI. This experience, diverging from the conventional format of expert discussions, resulted in confusion, laughter, and unexpected insights, emphasizing the value of play in disrupting routine and expectation.

The episode posits that the way automated systems respond to play can reveal much about their design and organization, and raises questions about the humaneness of systems that resist or punish play. It argues for the importance of joy and playfulness in our interactions with technology, questioning the desirability of systems that lack the capacity to accommodate these human experiences.

Sound by Koohyar Habibi

Production by Kasra Goodarznezhad

Words by Jerrold McGrath

"Episode 8: Technologies of Care" from "Local Disturbances: Shorts" reflects on the human-centric approach to technology and AI, inspired by works like Jer Thorp’s "Living in Data" and Kate Crawford’s "Atlas of AI". It emphasizes starting with the vision of the world we want to live in and then shaping technology to fit that vision, rather than the other way around.

The episode highlights the work of the Maitri Platform, a global initiative that coordinated resources and support to improve equity in the COVID-19 response. Maitri's work showcased the human capacity for care, especially in reaching marginalized groups like those facing sexual violence, living with disabilities, or residing in rural areas. This approach contrasts with large-scale responses that often prioritize efficiency over local and small-scale needs.

The narrative then moves to discuss the role of AI in healthcare, particularly in vaccine research and production. Despite AI’s capabilities in these areas, it falls short in ensuring equitable distribution, especially to the vulnerable. This gap is attributed not to the technology itself but to the assumptions and biases underlying its development.

The episode draws on Ursula K. Le Guin’s "The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" to critique the focus on 'heroic' technologies, advocating instead for technologies of care and containment that can hold and share resources equitably. It calls for a shift in storytelling and solution development towards caring, maintaining, and supporting those in need, rather than just producing more.

The episode concludes with a vision for AI systems designed around and for people, akin to the narrative style of novels that focus on human experiences rather than heroes. This approach at UKAI Projects aims to align AI development with the broader goal of nurturing and supporting human communities.

Sound by Koohyar Habibi

Production by Kasra Goodarznezhad

Words by Jerrold McGrath

We explore the creation and impact of symbolic languages in the context of artificial intelligence and cultural diversity. We look at how communities and subcultures, historically and currently, use unique systems like slang, hand signals, and visual symbols to communicate outside official systems. The project, "Please Don’t Understand This," led in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Toronto and the Canada Council for the Arts, aimed to develop new collective sense-making approaches for AI and algorithmic culture, drawing from diverse communities.

The project involved artists from different regions, including a refugee camp in Malawi and cities like Beijing and Cairo, to create visual languages expressing their perspectives on AI. These creations were then remixed by diaspora members in Canada, highlighting the diverse ways communities understand and interact with AI, contrasting with the predominantly Western frameworks that currently dominate AI discourse.

The episode discusses how these emergent ritualistic languages enable communication outside established ideologies and reflect the metaphors and realities of the communities themselves. It illustrates this with the example of a Beijing tattoo artist who used iconography to highlight local restaurants overshadowed by algorithmically boosted eateries.

The overarching message is the necessity of diverse, inclusive approaches in understanding and governing AI. It advocates for meaningful participation from affected communities in AI discourse, emphasizing the importance of transforming fundamental assumptions and exploring new perspectives to govern these powerful technological tools effectively.

Sound by Koohyar Habibi

Production by Kasra Goodarznezhad

Words by Jerrold McGrath

This episode from "Local Disturbances: Shorts" discusses the concept of interiority and its erosion in the age of artificial intelligence and automated interactions. Interiority, the inner character or nature of a person, is foundational to our understanding of and interactions with others. However, with the rise of bots and automated systems, there's a growing tendency to question the humanity and conscious internal life of others, especially in digital interactions.

The proliferation of bots, which accounted for 37.2% of internet users in 2020, has led to doubts about whether interactions are with real humans. This uncertainty can lead to the dehumanization of others, a phenomenon historically used by governments and societies to facilitate violence against marginalized communities. The episode cites an example where an iOS adult content filter blocked all searches with the keyword 'Asian', assuming they were for pornography, reflecting and amplifying dehumanizing biases.

Automated systems often assume a universal standard of perception, ignoring cultural uniqueness. This homogenization challenges our ability to see and respect the unique interiority of others. The episode stresses the importance of consummating others morally, by acknowledging their uniqueness and attempting to inhabit their perspectives.

In the context of art and creation, the episode argues that artists have a responsibility to express their values and engage with the world, offering diverse perspectives and experiences. However, the art world faces pressure to align with official ideologies, often leading to art that is distant from the underlying experiences it represents. The episode calls for the use of technology and AI to deepen our understanding of others' interiority, rather than creating a superficial, agreeable exterior.

The discussion also touches on the ethical concerns in documentary filmmaking, where power dynamics and exploitation between filmmakers and subjects are prevalent. It highlights the need for ethical approaches and reciprocal relationships in this domain.

The episode concludes by emphasizing the importance of developing AI in ways that center different conceptions of a beautiful life, ensuring that technology helps us relate better to the world and each other. It invites comments and suggestions on who is doing interesting work in this field.

Sound by Koohyar Habibi

Production by Kasra Goodarznezhad

Words by Jerrold McGrath

This episode from "Local Disturbances: Shorts" explores the concept of conviviality in relation to AI, drawing on Ivan Illich's ideas. Illich defines conviviality as creative, autonomous interactions among people and their environment, contrasting with industrial productivity. The podcast discusses the tension between centralizing (centripetal) and decentralizing (centrifugal) forces in society and language, and how AI influences this balance.

Language is used as an example to illustrate these forces. Official language rules represent centralizing forces, while individual expressions and context-specific usages demonstrate decentralizing tendencies. Historical examples, like the standardization of French and the blending of languages in England, highlight how language evolves under these forces.

AI's impact is examined through its tendency to optimize and speed up processes, often at the expense of individual agency and cultural diversity. AI systems, like narrow AI, prioritize predictable inputs, leading to a reduction in the complexity of social interactions. This trend mirrors industrialization's demand for workers to adapt to machines, now extended to public and private life through AI.

The episode argues for the need for technologies that promote genuine exchange and diversity of perspectives, rather than entrenching official ideologies. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining the social gift of negotiating meaning and preserving the diversity of community interactions. The concern is that without diverse approaches to algorithmic systems, our culture risks becoming more rigid, replacing true interaction with mere tolerance and making genuine resistance harder to achieve.

This episode from "Local Disturbances: Shorts" focuses on the intersection of AI, art, and culture. It discusses how artificial intelligence is disrupting traditional modes of artistic expression and cultural engagement, and the necessity for artists to actively participate in exploring and critiquing these technologies.

Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin's concepts, the episode emphasizes the role of the arts in contesting official ideologies, particularly those emphasizing growth and efficiency. It critiques how algorithms have been designed to produce a monotone aesthetic of agreeableness, limiting the diversity and creativity in artistic expression. This trend towards homogenization is counter to the reflective and contemplative nature of traditional aesthetics.

The podcast highlights the significance of arts and culture in the AI dialogue, as outlined in the conclusions of the Expert Seminar on Culture, Creativity, and Artificial Intelligence in Rijeka, Croatia, in 2018. These conclusions stress the irreplaceable role of arts in expressing human genius, stimulating diversity against cultural standardization, and contributing to social intelligence and emancipation in an AI-influenced world.

Representation is a key theme, with the episode examining how the metaphors used to explain AI often reflect the assumptions underlying these systems. For instance, the comparison of AI to a disembodied brain limits other ways of conceptualizing AI. Projects like Ferment AI are mentioned, which explore alternative metaphors like the liver's intelligence and the mutualism of lichen.

The concept of "novelization," as proposed by Bakhtin, is applied to AI, suggesting that artists should engage in dialogizing sociotechnical systems to preserve human agency and subjectivity. This approach opposes the trend of AI systems demanding objectification of human beings and the natural world.

Finally, the podcast discusses the prioritization role of the arts in shaping societal responses to AI. The arts are viewed as a laboratory for social innovation, capable of introducing new priorities and exploring themes outside the prevailing capitalist ideology.

The episode concludes by calling for a diverse range of voices to describe the experiences of AI and imagine its applications, emphasizing the need for literacy, democratization of AI tools, and engagement with the status quo.

Welcome to The Computer is Your Redacted, where you can listen as four experts in artificial intelligence, technology, and culture play the classic role-playing game Paranoia! and navigate a horrible and occasionally hilarious dystopia. Remember, everything is improvised …. and only our players decide where the story goes next.

Developed by the Goethe-Institut Toronto and program lead Jerrold McGrath

The Computer is Your Redacted presented by UKAI Projects and the Goethe-Institut Toronto

Players are Ian Garrett, Yasmeen Nematt Alla, Catherine Stinson, and Martin Ryan

Production are Max Cotter and Aleda DeRoche (Brainchild), Jess Forrest (Castle If), and Jess Gurd (the voice of the computer).

Paranoia is under license to Mongoose Publishing and elements of this podcast were written by James Wallis, Grant Howitt, and Paul Dean.

Welcome to The Computer is Your Redacted, where you can listen as four experts in artificial intelligence, technology, and culture play the classic role-playing game Paranoia! and navigate a horrible and occasionally hilarious dystopia. Remember, everything is improvised …. and only our players decide where the story goes next.

Developed by the Goethe-Institut Toronto and program lead Jerrold McGrath

The Computer is Your Redacted presented by UKAI Projects and the Goethe-Institut Toronto

Players are Ian Garrett, Yasmeen Nematt Alla, Catherine Stinson, and Martin Ryan

Production are Max Cotter and Aleda DeRoche (Brainchild), Jess Forrest (Castle If), and Jess Gurd (the voice of the computer).

Paranoia is under license to Mongoose Publishing and elements of this podcast were written by James Wallis, Grant Howitt, and Paul Dean.