Dystopian Detox
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_____________p r o l o g u e ________________
Recently, I’ve come to realize that both my interest and passion for finding meaning in human relations and the idea of humanity naturally led me to the concept of artificial intelligence. Fei Fei Li, scientist, professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and a member of the US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, responsible for creating AI4ALL once said that “there’s nothing more human than artificial intelligence: created by humans, based on human knowledge, done to impact human life”.
Adding up to Fei Fei Li’s vision, Shannon Vallor, philosopher, ethics and technology specialist, as well as Danielle Krettek, founder of Google Empathy Lab, and Kimberly Bryant, engineer, and founder of Black Girls Code project are some of the women responsible for articulating technology developments that think of technological revolution from a human sovereignty point of view. I think of these women as beacons in the process of uniting artificial intelligence and its potential of shining a light in the knowledge of human essence, instead of a technology that separates us from our humanity.
These women introduced me to much more profound and multidisciplinary concepts about coevolution between humans and machines, a paradigm that asserts, even more, the powerful combinations between algorithms and human sciences (and skills). Learning with them through books, articles, and youtube videos, I’ve gained scientific depth that helped me navigate the perpetual torrent of dystopian news, responsible for flooding our thoughts, damaging our hopes and common sense about our future here on planet Earth or any other planet.
“We have time” (here’s some good news)
“But we have to act now” (here’s a cry for help)
Fei Fei Li
In his book “Enlightenment Now”, psychologist, linguistic, optimistic and Harvard professor Steven Pinker makes a very convincing case to show us that we are only making progress — and that we have lots of actual facts moving us towards building a better future. Still on the subject, in his essay The Casual Power of Ideas , he acknowledges that human sovereignty over machines and technology resides in the power of ideas. The rising of ideas is not a simple thing. It’s a sophisticated resource, composed of endless connections, emotions and communications in which causality is one of the gear’s main engines.
While researching originally developed skills by humans, Pinker reminds us of our history, of how we — humans beings — got here. We turned stone into a spear, spark into a fire, animals into pets, we created and organized ourselves inside efficient communities, support systems and, among so many other achievements, we developed something called artificial intelligence!
Pinker praises the human species and defines our unique ability to dream and imagine as a fundamental skill to our prosperity. To sum it up, the author points out the ability to imagine the unimaginable as our fundamental difference from homo sapiens sapiens.
Following the same path, journalist Bruno Torturra interviews Sidarta, Brazilian neuroscientist and author of the book “Oráculo da Noite” (The Oracle of the Night) on a brilliant edition of the Boletim do Fim do Mundo podcast. While bringing together a diverse range of sciences, he argues that the loss of intimacy with our dreams and the act of dreaming is impairing humanity’s ability to thrive.
While insomnia is a hot subject discussed and treated in postmodern anxiety society, our fundamental ability to dream doesn’t seem to have raised such discussion. I worry about the dream swerve, mostly with the task of making imagination a part of our thinking process on this planet — especially in a country like Brazil, that kills kids like Ágatha (a child killed by a cop in Rio de Janeiro) and buries super-heroes like Marielle Franco (a city councilwoman murdered in Rio de Janeiro).
Addicted to a “little screen” information junkies, a whole generation exposed to a plethora of images and news. The scenario described by Sidarta emphasizes the impact and the influence of media exposure on the development of our imaginary. A profusion of images and news that constantly nourishes our internal communications responsible for building up the path of our dreams. Toni Morrison, in her book “The Origin of Others”, talks about the importance of “not succumbing to the perversity of the media, because they can cloud our vision”. This thought led me to consider the now popular concept of dystopia.
When looking at science fiction as something much more powerful than pure entertainment, as well as understanding its potential as an instrument of great power to build our imaginary and our dreams, both utopian and dystopian, what catches my attention is the increasing quantity and popularity of dystopian productions such as Black Mirror, The Handmaid’s Tale and Years & Years. Shows in which we, humans, appreciate our own unpopularity. Being a zombie seems much more fun than being a human. Following the same line of thought, Sidarta tells us that we can easily imagine the apocalypse, but cannot conceive the end of capitalism.
So I wonder: where can I find the dream of the human race’s progress?
And my answer would be: in the imagination! In the impossible particle, in our ability to dream.
The importance of the utopia never seemed so urgent, which is why I share my worries and my “not so humble” desire of becoming intimate with better horizons with you, in the hopes of encouraging questions that lead us to something contrary to this dehumanization scenario. What would it be like today if half our congress were formed by women? What would the future be like if artificial intelligence improves us as a species instead of outshining us? What will happen to Brazil when the Amazon forest GDP is higher than the agro-business?
I finish up this edition of the newsletter with the last line of the beautiful open letter from writer Valter Hugo Mãe ao escritor Marcelino Freire: “In my fear, Marcelino, a lot of courage will sprout”, and thus, it praises the responsibility of any self-respecting progressive human, which is to dream.
concepts >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
01 augmented Intelligence x artificial intelligence — It’s interesting to think the two terms were coined around the same time. For a while, I had the impression that augmented intelligence was more popular, but now artificial intelligence seems to be an established term. It’s important to emphasize that the term Augmented Intelligence is a by-product of systems with cognitive technology created to support humans, their plans and analysis, while Artificial Intelligence supports the idea of a system that reproduces human cognition working autonomously.
02 cyborg manifesto — Published in 1985, the biologist Donna Haraway proclaims herself as a cyborg in a technologization of the human species criticism, highlighting mutation and its implications, announcing the beginning of the cyborg era.
03 posthumanism — The term originated from the need to rethink our whole understanding of humanity, opening horizons for new ways of grasping the concept of what it means to be human. Beyond the environment, it reinforces the technology and the concept of transhumanism in the process of human evolution.
— — — — — — — h o r i z o n — — — — — — — — — — — — — →
Lygia da Veiga Pereira — a Brazilian scientist, one of the lead geneticists worldwide and founder of LaNCE (National Laboratory for Embryonic Stem-cell), has touched me with her project aiming the creation of a genome library in Brazil, big enough to represent all of our genetic diversity. An impressive project that takes into account the Brazilian population, our genetic diversity makes the dream of creating research that can improve and expand treatment to other populations and nations.
É tarde mas ainda temos tempo — with the message “we still have time to make it happen”, to criticize, to provoke, to rethink, to reinvent — the exhibition of artist Ana Teixeira who builds her work exchanging her courage and bravery with the audience.
“Não há abismo em que o Brasil Caiba” (There is no abyss in which Brazil could fit — free translation) — In his new album, Jorge Mautner evokes both science and dream while choosing the words of Portuguese philosopher Agostinho da Silva to name his project, he also invites us all to daydream and enjoy the pure nectar of what I call emotion.
That’s it,
See you soon!
Luiza Futuro
*This month’s’ illustration was made by Niege Borges. She is brazilian freelancer designer and illustrator in Brooklyn, New York. She works with various agencies and clients such as Twitter, Dropbox, IBM and Canon.
