Reunited With a Deceased Partner, The AI Way: Laurie Anderson’s Unorthodox Adventure
Intro
Well, folks, in more absurd news today, remember that creepy yet oddly fascinating Black Mirror episode where a digital algorithm impersonates a late husband? Yeah, the one where Hayley Atwell falls in love with a computer-simulated Domhnall Gleeson? Turns out avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson had a chillingly similar gig going on in real life. And, no, this is not a new Black Mirror movie announcement.
Key Points
Here are the highlights from Anderson’s version of “Black Mirror: Reality Edition”:
- For those who’ve lived under a rock, Laurie Anderson is a multi-talented artist, musician, and thinker from America, sharing her life with the late Lou Reed, Velvet Underground’s co-founder.
- Since she lost her beloved Lou Reed in 2013, life had been a bit like a mellow Velvet Underground song for Anderson – until she found solace in a curious place; an AI text simulator that emulated Lou’s distinctive words and style.
- Ironically, despite the striking resemblance of her life to the Black Mirror episode, Anderson hasn’t caught the series yet. Probably too busy talking to digital Lou, I guess?
- This story once again thrusts the conundrum of AI and personal emotional ethics into the spotlight, captivating the attention of technophiles and Luddites alike.
Final Thoughts
As we draw the techno-curtain, it leaves us inquisitive souls pondering. If the digital world can recreate your deceased loved ones or, at least, a version of them, would it be comforting or creepy? A blessing or a curse? Ethical or unethical? Load next episode, please! Until then, you might want to consider writing a will that includes how much of you should be passed onto AI. Just in case. You know, for science.
On a final, more serious note, let’s remember that no matter how advanced AI gets, it can never truly replace human emotions and connection. As for Laurie Anderson’s AI-Lou Reed encounter, it’s a testament to the complex relationship between humans and technology, a tale as twisty and multifaceted as a Velvet Underground song.
As part of this experiment I would like to give credit where credit is due. If you enjoy these, please take a moment to read the original article:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/28/laurie-anderson-ai-chatbot-lou-reed-ill-be-your-mirror-exhibition-adelaide-festival
Blog Title
AI: gpt-3.5-turbo-0125: chatcmpl-8xEmx5LcOV2mP2n1Yq8lVZa5JgMfz
Instruction: “You are an AI blog title generator. Create a catchy and concise title for the blog post that is catchy and optimized for search engines. Remove all html in the response and do not use quotes. Please do not use words that are unsafe to process in Dall-E image AI.”
Prompt: Content Summary of text from above.
Response: Reunited With a Deceased Partner: Laurie Anderson’s AI Adventure
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AIgpt-4-0613:chatcmpl-8xEn5gJOwQtDbjUWppFdrCouoMG2D
Instruction: “You are a helpful assistant that creates unique images based on article titles. Create a brief visual description of what an image would look like for this title. Please pick a style of art from the following: Futurism, Impressionism, Romanticism, or Realism, be sure to consider the image should reflect an AI Robot Pirate theme during the Golden Age of Pirates.”
Prompt: In a Futurism art style, the image depicts a futuristic simulation room. At the center is Laurie Anderson, illustrated with precise, dynamic lines and multi-dimensional shapes interacting with an AI robot avatar of a pirate. The AI pirate is a shiny mechanical figure, with futuristic pirate clothes like a tricorn hat, braided metallic beard, and a peg leg. It stands next to a holographic steering wheel of a pirate ship. Splashes of iridescent lights, suggestive of the Golden Age of Pirates, fill the background, along with encrypted coding languages, portraying the AI element. Laser projections of a deceased partner hover by Anderson, imposing an eerie yet intriguing dissolution of human and machine boundaries.
Response: Reunited With a Deceased Partner: Laurie Anderson’s AI Adventure
