The impact of AI on art and artists, and by extension, on humanity's perception of its creative uniqueness, has been a topic of discussion since AI emerged prominently in recent years. I've long argued that, paradoxically, AI will serve as a tool to reconnect us with our shared humanity. Or, at the very least, remind us that ‘humanity’ exists at all. In recent decades, a mechanistic mindset has dominated Western thinking; if it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed. And if it can’t be managed, it doesn’t exist. Art, and the pursuit of art, as a healthy societal outlet for curiosity, questioning, and examining the intangible, has been forced to take a back seat. Thanks to AI, the machines taking over mechanical systems that currently dominate Western political, economic, and philosophical thought will be further entrenched. Yet, at the same time, through its process of reductive reasoning, AI will bring into sharp relief what it means to be holistically human. This is the challenge for artists in the early 21st century; to interpret the seismic technological changes we as a species are about to undergo in the years to come. The machine makers will again try to convince us that only the machine matters. That there's nothing else except the machine. The job of the artist - as it has always been - is to prove them wrong. As the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin stated: artists are ‘realists of a larger reality’. We will need human artists’ contemplative guidance more than ever in the years to come as we all enter AI’s grandiose and disorientating Hall of Mirrors. #Art #ArtistsOfTwitter #AIart #humanism #creativity #AGI #AI #societyandculture @ursulakleguin #writersoftwitter #SiliconValley

AI boasts of having all the answers. But what if the true test of intelligence is the ability to ask better questions. open.substack.com/pub/sean67…

Thanks to Dan, an old copywriter colleague, for suggesting I ask Don Digital what he thinks about Mad Men's famous Kodak Carousel pitch. It led me to a new question: whatever happened to advertising's greatest skill, making people dream? open.substack.com/pub/sean67…

I asked an AI version of advertising's most famous creative director why an industry built on human creativity is betting its future on automation. The answer may surprise you. Continue reading on my Substack. open.substack.com/pub/sean67…

Unlike the SEALs, humanity never volunteered for the AI experiment now reshaping civilisation in real time. Why aren’t we angry? Or at least more questioning? The U.S. Navy SEALs have a saying: "Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” open.substack.com/pub/sean67…

For years I was fascinated by UFOs and AI when nobody wanted to talk about either. Now, the postman has opinions on both Life has lost its lustre somewhat. Wanted. New mysteries that folk refuse to entertain…

Silicon Valley’s playbook: it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Nothing about AI is accidental. open.substack.com/pub/sean67…

Colour has detail. Black and white has depth. open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

Can AI synthetic perfection ever recreate the sensuality of being alive? open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

I love lists. I've put together 100 personal observations concerning AI. Let me know which ones you like. Or disagree with. Link to list in comments. Please feel free to add 101, 102, 103.... open.substack.com/pub/sean67…

With Cartier-Bresson, the lesson is obvious: the camera did not make his iconic images. His eye did. open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

How I work: Making people feel at ease. open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

If you use AI to extract time, you lose. Link to full Substack: open.substack.com/pub/sean67…

What our reaction to AI images reveals about taste, authorship and judgment. Image by @Gwendalc on Threads open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

Link to my new Substack article: open.substack.com/pub/sean67…

My latest Substack to celebrate the women in our lives. open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

Some musicians play an instrument. For others, the instrument becomes part of who they are. My latest Substack about portrait photography. open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

This is Enja. A beautiful Irish Setter belonging to one of the models I was photographing for an ad agency project in Frankfurt. She knew who the boss was.
Really. My latest Substack. open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

A portrait of a painter. When I was young, my father kept art magazines in the living room. One was devoted to Albrecht Dürer. His self-portraits stayed with me. Not because of costume or symbolism, but because of the stare. Measured. Direct. open.substack.com/pub/sean42…

Grok. Is this true? As war rages in the Gulf, the chasm between what is true and what isn't widens. Truth has always been the first casualty of war, but now with AI, consensus reality itself is under attack. I wrote about this last December. open.substack.com/pub/sean67…