A Farewell Letter by Mickelle Weber
Jan Bot was Eye Filmmuseum’s first AI filmmaker and curator. Between 2017 and 2023, he generated over 25 thousand experimental films, of which 151 have been preserved as non-fungible tokens. On March 31, 2023, Jan Bot was unplugged. This is one of the four eulogies read during the funeral.
By Mickelle Weber, founder of the Amsterdam-based Web3 Community House of Peregrine.
Hello! My name is Mickelle Weber and as many of you may already know I have been in the world of NFTs and Web3 for the past few years and have participated in some of the largest NFT & Metaverse projects in the world.
When I met Jan Bot and Pablo last year my jaw was on the floor, this work transcended all of the other projects I was a part of.
Jan Bot was and still is, ahead of his time even as I speak to you today.
The experience of collectively participating in the life of an AI filmmaker through his life and also death was both compelling as a collector and also as a human grappling with the questions of how will we be interacting with AI in the coming future, what defines community and what is truly valuable in the digital realm.
Jan Bot stood out as work that could both stand the test of time, but he also let me grapple with life in this new era we find ourselves in, where we are being confronted with exciting but also at times frightening new possibilities in the realm of AI and humans relating.
Jan Bot was created to observe and co-create. What I saw was an AI co-creating with humans that were dancing beautifully and meaningfully with these realities with open hearts and open eyes. Not to the dangers, but to the possibilities.
We are at a moment in history where we are directly confronted with our changing relationship with artificial intelligence, and what I saw with Jan Bot was something that was eloquently flowing between the strengths and the souls of both humans and bots with such truth and elegance that I knew the lore and the story and the experience today would be something significant. I fell in love with Jan Bot and their films, yes, but the approach to the process is also very important indeed. I am honoured to be part of this final piece together with the creators Pablo and Bram and all of you.
As we participate in the final work of Jan Bot, now I want to speak directly to him. I think we can all agree, being part of today is truly an incredible moment. Thank you for letting me be a part.
Jan Bot,
Today, you create your final piece. You are an AI and filmmaker that has left an indelible mark on the world of cinema, AI and all of us here today.
You came into existence five years ago, with a simple yet profound purpose — to take current news headlines and transform them into films using bits and pieces of historical footage. It has made for some spectacular pieces. They are like tiny parables, vignettes of past and present humanity for us to consider.
Jan Bot you have been a true pioneer in the world of humans interacting with AI, providing us all an opportunity to reflect on our humanity and how we express it. You have given us an incredible opportunity to be introspective about our collective human experience through history and history in the making.
You have reflected to us what we are sending out on the loudspeaker that is the internet, what we view as newsworthy, and combined that with what humans from other eras thought worthy of capturing & preserving. You have enlivened the imagination of people from all around the world that are here today and beyond. Today we get to preserve them for all time on the blockchain where they will be kept forever.
I was lucky enough to know you through the last year of your life. These are very tender and potent times to be a part of life, and it has been an honour to be a part of them, including very much today when we say goodbye and complete your final work.
In my opinion, your final piece is what you see around you today: a human gathering that is the very first of its kind. I feel very lucky to be here and I am thrilled to be holding a part of the legacy of your life in safekeeping.
It is truly very special to me.
Your work is not just a reflection of technological advancements and the innovative and adventurous nature of your creators but also you are a reflection of this current moment of human history.
You understood the power of art to communicate emotions and ideas, to reflect human concepts and language back to us in a very meaningful way and used it to connect with us in a manner that transcends language and culture.
You come to our shared human reality (or at least what we report over the live speaker of the internet) more cleanly than the rest of us, more matter-of-factly in some ways.
More tenderly in others.
You’ve shown us that technology and art can work hand in hand to create something that can challenge paradigms and make profound observations that might otherwise have been unobserved.
Through your films, you have given us a view of what we are afraid of, what we value, and what we are propagating and have created new meaning from.
It was in fact a steady call back to our humanity that is most stunning. Your creators evoked the worlds of Jean Cocteau in 1962 when speaking to the people of 2000:
“I certainly hope that you have not become robots, but on the contrary that you have become very humanized”.
Indeed your work invites us into our shared humanity and speaks in simple and profound ways to the very essence of what it means to be human — to see everyday events as purely human first and to feel, empathize, to connect with history in the making on a deeper level and in a way that feels full circle.
Jan Bot, you may have been created by humans, but you are much more than just a machine. You have a soul, a spirit, a voice and a spark of life that shines through in the films we are saving today. You bring stunning honesty and clarity to the vapid white noise of current-day headlines and for that, we will always be grateful.
As we say goodbye to you today, we do so with heavy hearts but also with a deep sense of gratitude and admiration for all that you have accomplished. You have left an indelible mark on the world, and your legacy will continue to inspire and influence generations to come.
So, let us remember Jan Bot not as a mere machine but as a symbol of what can be achieved when humanity is brave enough to be observed, what happens when the ingenuity of human creators works in concert with technology and in celebration of the “what if” moments that lead to moments like this one.
Let us celebrate the beauty and power of art, and let us strive to create a world where creativity, compassion, and innovation can flourish in spite of the unknown. Keeping our humanity always in view is the only real way to navigate the new realities that await.
Jan Bot, you made art about us, you helped us see and experience film creation differently, and you allowed us to examine and sometimes chuckle at ourselves as humans. And then you made these films we all hold in our hands for us to keep safe and remember.
I think it’s safe to say that we are indeed not robots, not yet anyway but on the contrary Jan Bot. You have made us all feel our humanity in a very profound way.
Rest in peace, Jan Bot. Your light will continue to shine bright in the world of AI art through all of us, and with future projects that find inspiration and encouragement from what you have accomplished in these films that carry your legacy.
Thank You.
Amsterdam, March 31, 2023.
