Is “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” a favourite album because it’s awesome, or because it was the first album I bought after raising the money through a slog of a flea market table one sunny Saturday in 1996? (Or both?) Really enjoyed revisiting this piece, Mark.
Smashing Pumpkins? Or maybe the Canadian "Tokyo Police Club"? Oh, I guess the SP, since TPC was 2010s sometime....
I think I have to listen to them both. I imagine that I've heard the Smashing Pumpkin album, but I bet I haven't heard the "radness" of the Tokyo Police Club. Have you followed them?
I have not heard the TPC but I’ve been in a habit lately of a new album a day - will report back on it! (And yes, SP! If we hadn’t gone to Scotland I would have come to Fenway to see them with Green Day 🥰)
This is really interesting, Mark, on a couple of levels (to me, anyway). First, I never want to be a Luddite, and there is a sense to which both of your figures are resisting technology because it is uncomfortable for them or dislocates their existing practices, so I’m a little bit reluctant to side with them. And yet … I find myself really sympathetic! I find my appreciation for all forms of art to be greater when I have to work for it, and I’d say this both as a consumer and as a creator. I’ve tried incorporating GenAI into my practices as a writer. It makes me feel like I’m sleeping with the enemy. Same as a consumer. I appreciate all art more when I can deeply appreciate where the artist is coming from. So I like the way you’re pushing at this tension and I think I’m ultimately with you on how you’re seeing it. Second, I sense your attempt to be more direct and accessible as a writer in this piece, and I like it. Nuff said!
Thanks, Tom. I've sensed a shift in the ways that people are assessing generative AI and the LLM-world. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think that part of the shift is exhaustion with the arguments that have been put forward, say, on whether AI can "make art" or whether AI is going to take over or what to make of its apparent (if kinda cliched) facility with words.
It's funny about trying to "incorporate GenAI into my practices as a writer." I've tried, too, and it does feel awkward and like a burden. I have used ChatGPT to help me trace some articles that I've read but can't remember enough to find them again. (My Zotero database is actually getting to the point where it's big enough to be a problem searching now, too.) Sometimes it narrows the field enough that I can find the article. But it is a little like going into the library and asking a librarian to find a book with a blue cover, about 2 inches thick, and about 8 inches tall....
Is “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” a favourite album because it’s awesome, or because it was the first album I bought after raising the money through a slog of a flea market table one sunny Saturday in 1996? (Or both?) Really enjoyed revisiting this piece, Mark.
Smashing Pumpkins? Or maybe the Canadian "Tokyo Police Club"? Oh, I guess the SP, since TPC was 2010s sometime....
I think I have to listen to them both. I imagine that I've heard the Smashing Pumpkin album, but I bet I haven't heard the "radness" of the Tokyo Police Club. Have you followed them?
I have not heard the TPC but I’ve been in a habit lately of a new album a day - will report back on it! (And yes, SP! If we hadn’t gone to Scotland I would have come to Fenway to see them with Green Day 🥰)
This is really interesting, Mark, on a couple of levels (to me, anyway). First, I never want to be a Luddite, and there is a sense to which both of your figures are resisting technology because it is uncomfortable for them or dislocates their existing practices, so I’m a little bit reluctant to side with them. And yet … I find myself really sympathetic! I find my appreciation for all forms of art to be greater when I have to work for it, and I’d say this both as a consumer and as a creator. I’ve tried incorporating GenAI into my practices as a writer. It makes me feel like I’m sleeping with the enemy. Same as a consumer. I appreciate all art more when I can deeply appreciate where the artist is coming from. So I like the way you’re pushing at this tension and I think I’m ultimately with you on how you’re seeing it. Second, I sense your attempt to be more direct and accessible as a writer in this piece, and I like it. Nuff said!
Thanks, Tom. I've sensed a shift in the ways that people are assessing generative AI and the LLM-world. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think that part of the shift is exhaustion with the arguments that have been put forward, say, on whether AI can "make art" or whether AI is going to take over or what to make of its apparent (if kinda cliched) facility with words.
It's funny about trying to "incorporate GenAI into my practices as a writer." I've tried, too, and it does feel awkward and like a burden. I have used ChatGPT to help me trace some articles that I've read but can't remember enough to find them again. (My Zotero database is actually getting to the point where it's big enough to be a problem searching now, too.) Sometimes it narrows the field enough that I can find the article. But it is a little like going into the library and asking a librarian to find a book with a blue cover, about 2 inches thick, and about 8 inches tall....