6/ The actual impact of the cacophony around genAI's intelligence or sentience, I argue, is to get us used to the idea that OUR intelligence or humanity isn't so valuable: that there's no point working hard to make something good, when you can just get Jesus Shrimp now to go...

4/ Of course, there are ways to try & robustly evaluate genAI tech. But many influential demonstrations of genAI derive their impact from their theatre - in fact quite common across the history of science & tech. Like duels in the Wild West, they starkly show winners and losers in black and white.

3/ Using an art anthropology notion of abductive agency, I show how these dramas & rituals around genAI concentrate decision-making power even more around Big Tech, under the weird notion that the folks who gave us Metaverses and AI girlfriends are the only ones who can save us from the Bad Future.

2/ Every time regulators, researchers, etc. get sucked into the realness question, it prioritises all our political and societal energy towards 'bad AGI' speculations and the 'AI arms race' framing - implying that the AI we are getting is the only future and there is no alternative.

Chosun-Ilbo, SK's Conservative Paper of Record, in September, ridiculed Oppositions concerns over possible martial law:

"It is no exaggeration to say not a single soldier would obey [...] What kind of government would commit such a suicidal act?"

“Everyone was sick, but nobody felt the pain.”

Lee seong-bok, “That Day”,

from collection, “When Does A Rolling Stone Awaken?”, 1980.

~1890s. Turns out beer, like cigarettes, used to be endorsed by accredited physicians.

Filing my application from a record store, naturally

//automation dreams in the cadbury company town booklet, 1930s. the town attracted much praise for delivering workers from urban slums, at least until the near-slavery conditions in its west african cocoa farms became publicised.

//fat cat on fat vase. claude levi-strauss painted this cat when visiting south korea for a lecture. reasons unknown.