Our Creative Relationship With AI Is Just Beginning | K Allado-McDowell | TED

I think it's safe to say

there's never been a moment like this one

in all of history.

Of course, it's always safe to say that

because every moment is unique and can never be reproduced.

But when it comes to AI,

the changes we've seen in a single generation,

and lately in a single day,

are truly historically novel.

We are the first human beings to ever experience this.

I want to talk about how we experience it.

AI is changing how we work and create.

It's helping us solve complex problems in ecology,

urban planning and medicine.

From diagnosing disease to detecting forest fires,

AI is giving us a new view of our planet and ourselves.

This comes with challenges.

There are ongoing debates and open questions about ethics,

power and the relationships between humans and machines.

Are we at risk of losing what makes us most human?

How can we preserve and even enhance the best in ourselves with AI?

I think the answer to these questions lies in three principles.

Creation, collaboration and care.

Creation, collaboration and care.

We need to nurture creative relationships with AI.

I've written with AI on several projects

and as an author I've seen firsthand

how AI co-writing can open the mind with remarkable results.

To test these ideas, I wrote a novel with GPT-3.

The AI suggested synchronistic plot twists,

penetrating character arcs

and critical perspectives I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

Together, we created something more compelling and imaginative

than either of us would have alone.

So let's co-create with AI.

I love collaborations

because collaborations are more than the sum of their parts.

For almost 10 years,

I have been bringing artists and philosophers in

to work with researchers at Google AI

through the Artists and Machine Intelligence Program.

By collaborating with machines, we've encouraged a new form of art

that combines and transforms photography, poetry,

cinema and music with machine-learning models.

But we've also brought the critical and creative imaginations of artists

into the process of developing AI.

If we want a world that preserves and enhances

the best parts of being human,

we need a wide range of voices and disciplines

present in the process of making AI.

So let's collaborate on making AI.

AI needs a goal.

It needs a North Star.

I believe the highest purpose for AI is to be healing.

That's why I created the opera "Song of the Ambassadors,"

working with neuroscientists to study the effects of music

and human-AI feedback loops.

By integrating AI-generated brainwave imagery

into the performance,

we were able to propose new musical and therapeutic approaches.

"Song of the Ambassadors" is offered as a prototype for a new kind of art

that turns our highest technology towards collective healing.

So let's care for each other with AI.

These principles are simple.

They might seem obvious,

but the world is changing fast and AI is complex.

So the point needs to be made clearly.

AI should preserve and enhance the best parts of being human.

But first, we must imagine new possibilities and new narratives

for our future together.

The next time you're thinking about

or even thinking with AI,

look for opportunities to create,

collaborate and care.

Thank you.

(Applause)

[A new era for opera beckons]

[Co-created by humans and artificial intelligence]

[We proudly present a hymn to nature and existence]

[This is also a neuroscience study]

[It's called]

["Song of the Ambassadors"]

(Applause)