This week we dive into learning in the intimacy economy as well as the future of personhood with Jamie Boyle. Plus: read about Steve Sloman's upcoming presentation at the Imagining Summit and Helen's Book of the Week.
Explore the shift from the attention economy to the intimacy economy, where AI personalizes learning experiences based on deeper human connections and trust.
If you’ve read our show notes, you’ll know that our music was written and performed by Jonathan Coulton. I’ve known Jonathan for more than 30 years, dating back to when we sang together in college. But that’s a story for another day, or perhaps never.
Jonathan spent his first decade post college as a software coder and then through a bit of happenstance and throwing care to the wind, he transitioned to music. In the mid 2000s, he blazed a trail of creating his own career on the internet—without a label or any of the support that musicians normally have. While he was pushing out a new song each week as part of his Thing-A-Week Project, he became known as the “internet music-business guy” since he had successfully used the internet to build his career and a dedicated fanbase. He has since released several albums, toured plenty, and launched an annual cruise for his fans.
Throughout his career, technology, and specifically AI, has been a theme—starting with his song Chiron Beta Prime in 2006 about a planet where all humans have been enslaved by uncaring and violent robots. During this interview we talk about his 2017 album Solid State which is well described by writer Emily Nussbaum who wrote, “Coulton’s latest album, “Solid State,” is, like so many breakthrough albums, the product of a raging personal crisis—one that is equally about making music and living online, getting older, and worrying about the apocalypse. A concept album about digital dystopia, it’s Coulton’s warped meditation on the ugly ways the internet has morphed since 2004. At the same time, it’s a musical homage to his earliest Pink Floyd fanhood, a rock-opera about artificial intelligence. It’s a worried album by a man hunting for a way to stay hopeful.”
In this interview, we talk with Jonathan about how he feels about Solid State now, his reaction to generative AI, and his experiences trying to use generative AI in songwriting. We’re grateful to be able to grab Jonathan just before he left on tour with Aimee Mann. We hope you all take time to listen to Solid State and catch him live.
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Dave Edwards is a Co-Founder of Artificiality. He previously co-founded Intelligentsia.ai (acquired by Atlantic Media) and worked at Apple, CRV, Macromedia, Morgan Stanley, and Quartz.
Helen Edwards is a Co-Founder of Artificiality. She previously co-founded Intelligentsia.ai (acquired by Atlantic Media) and worked at Meridian Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric, Quartz, and Transpower.