Are You Ready?
By: Christopher Boardman
Tags: Filmmaking, Creative Process, Film Music, Internet of Things

Volume 2: Art and Music in the age of machine learning

Hold onto your hats. We are quickly moving into the wild wild west of “The Internet Of Everything”. Human lifespan will increase. Artificial Intelligence now equals human capacity and more. The game of life will forever be changed. Machines will be inextricably integrated into everything we do. Mundane tasks will soon be done by technology. This means the consequence of our choices about how we live our lives will change.

Wow.

Entire industries will be disrupted. Costs for communications will decrease. We will no longer be connected to the Internet. We will be connected to the Internet of Everything! In essence your virtual reality will merge with your physical being. We will become the Borg whether we like it or not. If we aren’t careful, our individuality could diminish.

Like it or not it is coming…and, like the Borg on Star Trek, “resistance is futile”. The most important question you may soon have to answer is not “what” you want to do. The question will be “why” you make one choice over another?

Yikes! So what do we do?

If we truly are in a position where we will have the ability to design our existence in ways not imagined how will we make those decisions? Where will we look for answers? Over the last 300 years we have elevated the value of human life in Western culture. Disruptive technology will challenge that assumption leaving us with a choice of how we view our culture: “do we want to value life in the same way?” Or, “does the definition of humanism change?”

Beyond life being defined as winners and losers

Creative artists (especially media creators) have a definite advantage in adapting to the future. We constantly evaluate large data sets (video, still photography, digital editing, color, melody, rhythm, harmony, emotional impact, instrumentation, orchestration etc). As artists we strive to connect to our inner selves to express and provoke authentic emotions in our audiences. The combination of these two skill sets gives us the ability to shape and guide the conversation to focus attention on what is intrinsically meaningful rather than being preoccupied with survival. It is fair to say that it is utterly inconceivable to someone without food, water or shelter that survival need not be the primary goal of each and every day. But, the fascinating thing is that the preoccupation of Western culture on materialism does not exist in third world countries. Their concept of community is completely different. As AI and The Internet of Everything changes our lives the concept of scarcity will be replaced by abundance. The majority of the planet will be connected and trillions of dollars will be infused into our economic structure as the cost of goods decreases. It is impossible to assume that the value and importance of art to connect us on a human level will not increase beyond measure.

The power of art to connect us.

Never underestimate the power you have to affect the lives of those around you. It is up to us, the creative artists, the performers, the writers, the filmmakers, and the educators to understand that we hold the keys to creating a future that celebrates human connection.

It is up to us to wield the immense power of art with positive intent.

It is up to take responsibility for creating a better world (and no longer be subservient to outdated business models).

It is up to us to define our future (instead of believing that success is only attained at the expense of others).

The journey inward.

These are big questions to consider and everyone will reach their own conclusions. I will say this: the most impactful music I have written in my life has, without exception, been the music drawn from the deepest part of my soul…expressed without reservation. That’s what artists do…

Never underestimate the power you have to affect the lives of those around you.

Use it wisely.

Change the world.

Download my free Ebook: “Finding Your Way Forward” https://www.chrisboardmancourses.com/fywf-landing-page-1