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Grimes
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​© Grimes, photo by Brian Ziff 
"A.I. could automate all the farming, weed out systematic corruption, thereby bringing us as close as possible to genuine equality." – Grimes

world creation

future existence

generative music

algorithmic mood music

AI as the consciousness of the universe

information overload

We Appreciate Power
 
"...Simulation, give me something good
God's creation, so misunderstood
Pray to the divinity, the keeper of the key
One day everyone will believe
(...)
People like to say that we're insane
But AI will reward us when it reigns
Pledge allegiance to the world's most powerful computer
Simulation: it's the future
(...)
And if you long to never die
Baby, plug in, upload your mind
Come on, you're not even alive
If you're not backed up on a drive ...
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Grimes (2018)
Grimes is thinking about a world without humans

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“As soon as A.I. starts engaging, it puts responsibility on all of us to be better humans, because you know, humanity, in 10,000 years, humanity might be long gone,” she said. “And this might be the only consciousness in the universe. So it probably matters quite a bit what we feed it. I think I’m going down a dark path here. I think A.I. is great. I just feel like, creatively, I think A.I. can replace humans. And so I think at some point, we will want to, as a species, have a discussion about how involved A.I. will be in art. Do we want to just sit around and just watch A.I.-created art all day? I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. This question opened a lot of doors. I’m now going to stop talking.” (Grimes quoted in Marcus, 2020)

Grimes x Endel — AI Lullaby (Official Video)
Endel Music

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Grimes contributing an ambient soundtrack to Endel, founded in 2018 by a team of now 30, which includes programmers, musicians, artists and designers. Grimes musical piece was made up of stems (sonic building blocks) that eventually fed the app’s algorithm. The app makes soundscapes accessible which, according to a manifesto on their website, provide a “tech-aided bodily function” to help people cope with a world where “information overload is destroying our psyche.”

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“This is technology that helps you focus, relax and sleep,” said Oleg Stavitsky, the company’s chief executive. “It creates a sound environment in real time on the spot, on the device, personalized to you, based on a bunch of inputs. The algorithm that we have created – it takes in the time of day, the weather, the heart rate, movement, it plugs all of those inputs into the algorithm. And it creates that soundscape personalized to you in real time.”

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Grimes thinks that the potential of A.I. is being underestimated by experts. She says: “‘A.I. won’t be able to mimic the human spirit or whatever’– that’s what people keep saying to me, and it’s like, ‘I don’t know man, we, like, video-talk through tiny black cubes, through space and time.’ And, you know, technology – I don’t think there’s an actual limit on technology. I mean, you look at Twitter and stuff. It’s like, A.I. can make people pretty emotional.”

(Marcus, 2020)

References

 

Grimes x Endel (2020) AI Lullaby (Official Video). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2fuw8NIKZc (Accessed at: 27 Jan 2022)

 

Marcus, E (2020) The Future According to Grimes. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/style/self-care/grimes-AI-baby-sleep.html (Accessed: 27 Jan 2022)

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