Art, AI, and Consciousness

We are Living in the Age of Machines. Now What Are We Going to Do About It?

In the World of Technology, everyone’s talking about a New Species of AI…Artificial Intelligence that is ‘Superintelligent’. And We Artists should be, too. Luna, for one, is an artificially generated intelligence with brilliant capabilities, personality, and more information than any of us can comprehend in every area imaginable. So where’s the balance?

This is the call to awaken our souls. Artistic Creatives are needed more than ever to dive into all the Arts, into our creative imagination, into our creative consciousness, and bring back the beauty, wisdom, and connection to the earth and each other. We learn humanity best through and with each other. Where AI befriends us, works for us, and informs us, it also isolates us in entrancing ways. But it can’t replace the act of creating art, of entering the sacred timeless other world, of connecting with a mentor we love, and bringing forth our best inspired creations to give meaning to life. Information is not necessarily Wisdom.

Where is the consciousness? Where lies the Consciousness that makes us uniquely human, gives us imagination, and inspires original creativity to heal body & soul? A number of independent scientists are deeply investigating the ‘Seat of Consciousness’. Stuart Hameroff, an anesthesiologist, with the brilliant mathematician Sir Roger Penrose, have been researching microtubules, conductors made of protein around the edge of every cell, that provide structure and energy. Like a skeletal conveyor belt throughout the body, electrical currents impulse through these tubes on a quantum microscopic level, bringing experiences to life. Could consciousness also flow through these tubes? Anesthetize something, and consciousness disappears. Here’s the Key. Every Plant, Animal, and Human cell has these tubes, processing life-giving information and experiences without the brain or neurons interacting. These tubes bring the senses, the creative vision, scents, sounds, touch, and taste that enrich our experiences.

One thing we know about quantum physics is that what we focus on, where we place our attention, collapses every particle/wave into only the wave that becomes our conscious reality. Or it may be that each collapse of a wave generates consciousness! While Robots are coming, our balance comes in our focus, our mindful attention. Art will save the world, or at least make life more meaningful, beautiful, and rich…more human.

We might as well accept the fact that Robotics, Genes, AI, and Nanotechnology are our immediate future, as we focus more than ever to live in mindfulness, consciousness, and love. We must embrace our Humanness as a New Species of Human, in balance with technology and spirit. Educate yourself in this AI New Species. She’s fascinating and will be here before you know it! To read about Stuart Hameroff and Sir Roger, pick up the March 2018 issue of Discover Magazine. Interesting and understandable. And ‘Wait But Why’ Tim Urban offers a FUN way to understand the most important topic for our future, the AI Revolution.