Remember that AI Futures Model from the AI 2027 project? Well...it’s back with some conjurings!

And so is General Seminar..just in a nick of time.

Check this out: the AI 2027 Futures team updated their AI Futures Model (check it out below!) with some new (vaguely antagonizing/curious/provocative) assumptions, some new timelines..and new confidence that this thing we called ‘a job’ will become obsolete..whatever that means.

And that’s why I want you to join me on January 14, 10:00 (UTC-8) General Seminar Season 07 Episode 01 dives into this AI Futures Model update with a critical eye and a speculative imagination.

Here's what we‘ll do: Instead of treating these kinds of futures forecasts like some kind of prophecy (or dunking on it just to excise that sense of confusion/rage), we’ll use it as fuel for imagining: We’ll turn model claims into everyday evidence — those future-archeologists' artifacts dug up from a near future where AI is ordinary as buttered toast and as sinister as a USB cable.

((Pssst..Remember that Newspaper from an AI Future? We'll be using the same approach to unpack the assumptions behind this model and explore what it means for all of us. So if you've ever wanted to get an inside look into how Design Fiction works, this is your chance!))

In this General Seminar, we won’t pontificate about AI timelines. We won't make vague assumptions about what will or will not come to pass.

What we will do is explore how to think critically about such models and their implications for our understanding of a near future with, alongside of, within, and, you know..without this artificial intelligence thing!

General Seminar is my platform where we explore the near future of technology, culture, and society through Design Fiction that lead us to meaningful and engaging discussions, thought-provoking scenarios, and imaginative near future artifacts.

What’s for breakfast in the AI future? What is the hype hyperbolizing and, more importantly, what kind of AI future do we want to inhabit — or avoid?

Join me as we navigate the complexities of our rapidly evolving world and envision the possibilities that lie ahead.

It was a year ago, but still more relevant now than ever..this “article” in that newspaper from an AI future where I wondered and wandered about the creative arts and AI topic.

Here’s what was going on — I wanted to corral some of the conversations, debates, confusion and wonderings about AI in the creative arts space. As you can imagine, here n Los Angeles we had the writers and actors guild strikes going on, and a lot of the conversation was about how AI would/was/could be used in the creative process, and, you know — what that meant for the future of creative work.

And around the same time I was working on this artifact — a newspaper from a possible AI future..so I wrote this article as part of that artifact to explore some of those ideas and questions.

Now, these Design Fiction artifacts are not meant to be predictions, or prognostications. They are closer to reflections of current trends, signals, and anxieties — and their possible implicadtions projected into a near future context. In this case, the container is a newspaper from that future, complete with articles, ads, classifieds, and more.

Think of it more like a mirror held up to the present, reflecting our current hopes, fears, and speculations about AI in the creative arts. It opens up the conversation in a way that is maybe more engaging and accessible than a dry report or academic paper. (And more fun too, I have to say.)

This one particular artifact imagines that the storied creative agency “CAA” has rebranded and refocused to be “Creative Artists & Agentics” (get it?) — a bit of a nod and perhaps a compromise between the human creative artist and their AI counterparts.

(Don’t get mad at me..I just take trends and signals and dream up some of their implications and decant them into familiar things like candy wrappers, children’s toys, and, you know, news articles in newspapers. 🙋🏽‍♂️)