User:Wordfa/PMOMMs

#1 - Where do you draw the Line

What is it?

A installation/zine/exercise/workshop exploring what parts of out life we want AI/Technology to mediate.

Why make it?

Interesting to give people to reflect on the ways technology is already involved in our lives. ( I also want to empower people to say no)

Workflow

Create an exhaustive list of things that ai could automate e.g. 'control the traffic lights', 'write a Birthday card to your coworker ', 'choose what you have for dinner'. Like 100.

Write a script that printers stickers with these on.

Get a big wall and draw a line in the middle, give people stickers to stick above or below the line depending on if they want AI to do it

Timetable

Got a first draft, but about a month to work out a physical version

Rapid prototypes (scratches)*

Draft I wrote for an unpublished zine

Where do you draw your line

In his 1976 seminal book, Computer Power and Human Reason, Joseph Weizenbaum postulates that the relevant issues around computing 'are neither technological nor even mathematical; they are ethical.' He goes on to say, 'They cannot be settled by asking questions beginning with "can." The limits of the applicability of computers are ultimately statable only in terms of oughts.'

In 2024 where we are told by Silicon Valley, Journalists and Politicians that AI can, and will, do everything, it is more relevant than ever to head Weizenbaum's advice. As much as we are able, we should choose where to limit AI's integration into our lives. In this spirit I propose an exercise for the reader.

Step 1. Grab a fresh sheet of paper and draw a line that divides the page vertically

Step 2. Copy each item of the following list (or its number) onto the page; Either above the line if you think this task[^1] ought to be done by AI [^2] or below the line if it shouldn't.

<div class="two-columns">1. control your local water treatment plant
2. choose targets to drone strike
3. control the traffic lights
4. write your job applications
5. choose which candidate to hire
6. deicide your salary
7. write a Birthday card to your coworker
8. write a Thank You letter to your grandmother
9. track and manage your day to day health
10. diagnose that weird mole on your back
11. summarise a book you want to read
12. give you therapy for your crippling depression
13. curate the music you listen to
14. ghost-write for your favourite artist
15. swerve to avoid a child, to instead hit an old man
16. choose what you have for dinner
17. take your order at your favourite restaurant
18. find you a date
19. curate your dating profile
20. give your orgasms
21. give your relationship advice
22. write your best man speech
23. break up with someone you dated for 1 month
24. break up with someone you dated for 2 years
25. referee your favourite sport
26. keep in touch with your friends
27. teach your philosophy of technology class
28. teach you how to fix your leaky washing machine
29. teach your child to cycle
30. summarise a 4pm email from your boss
31. summarise your family group chat
32. vote for you in your local election
33. choose who gets a visa
34. write your master’s thesis
35. grade your final exam
36. manage your finances
37. be your bank's customer support
38. plan your next family holiday
39. drive your Uber
40. write your diary
41. remember the conversation you had a house party
42. be your nurse in hospital
43. write the daily news
44. create videos for your children to watch
45. choose if you should be stopped and searched
46. decide when you can get parole
47. pacify your child on a long plane journey
48. write your grant application
49. choose who to give grants to
50. write your protest banners
51. be your romantic partner
52. be your friend
53. design new protein structures
54. design new more efficient transport
55. code your new portfolio website
56. make your holiday snaps more picturesque
57. spell and grammer check this article
58. translate the language of your partner
59. write a legal letter to dispute your parking ticket
60. write a booker prize winning book
</div>

Optional Step 4: Redo the exercise with a different colour pen but from the perspective of you 10 years ago

Optional Step 5: Redo the exercise again but from the perspective of you in 10 years

[^1]: If a task is not currently relevant to your life, answer as if it is.
[^2]: In this thought experiment, AI can be thought to be able to complete tasks at an 'equal' or 'better' level than humans, as defined by productive, frictionless and utilitarian capitalist ideals.

Sketch for how it might work at an exhibition