chr15Wed, Dec 19, 2007 Great post but I believe its really important to look at the social implications your thoughts and the rise in importance of "algorithmic arts." As a starting point one might look at this line:
As more and more jobs become automated, but NP-complete tasks like Theorem Proving remain intractable for computers, the discovery of new algorithms will be a central task for human beings.
This seems to be a utopian vision of human purpose in an era of automated abundance. Now I have no problem with utopian visions, they are crucial to reflecting on current social problems that need fixing and planning for a better future, but one must look at the assumptions that predict an era of automated super abundance. This might be one of those assumptions:
automation will be global and benefit all humanity.
I'm skeptical, automation will not in itself end human stake holder politics and the divide between haves and have-nots (for example, the species has had the ability to feed everyone on the planet since sometime in the 19th century, yet we have not). With that in mind a better way to phrase the quote above might be, "As more and more jobs become automated in the developed world... the discovery of new algorithms will be a central task for human beings in the information economy.
The social implications of this aren't great. It would increase the digital divide between the haves and have-nots (as the haves will have better algorithms) and reinforce the status of a scientific elite.
Now before people start calling me a luddite let me outline the two points i trying to make:
(1) I believe in the beauty of a society who celebrates scientific (and algorithmic) discovery but we must ask how to bring this about with equity, social justice and sustainability. Automation is not an answer in and of itself. We must work to make technological develop benefit all so everyone could have a place in humanities central tasks, whether they be algorithmic discovery or something else completely.
(2) when making predictions about futurity, assumptions could lead to unexpected social problems as people work towards the predictions they like best
To end I really do love the post and believe that algorithms will play an important (and wonderful) role in future creativity but we have to look more closely at the social vectors that might get us there.
Great post but I believe its really important to look at the social implications your thoughts and the rise in importance of "algorithmic arts." As a starting point one might look at this line:
This seems to be a utopian vision of human purpose in an era of automated abundance. Now I have no problem with utopian visions, they are crucial to reflecting on current social problems that need fixing and planning for a better future, but one must look at the assumptions that predict an era of automated super abundance. This might be one of those assumptions:
automation will be global and benefit all humanity.
I'm skeptical, automation will not in itself end human stake holder politics and the divide between haves and have-nots (for example, the species has had the ability to feed everyone on the planet since sometime in the 19th century, yet we have not). With that in mind a better way to phrase the quote above might be, "As more and more jobs become automated in the developed world... the discovery of new algorithms will be a central task for human beings in the information economy.
The social implications of this aren't great. It would increase the digital divide between the haves and have-nots (as the haves will have better algorithms) and reinforce the status of a scientific elite.
Now before people start calling me a luddite let me outline the two points i trying to make:
(1) I believe in the beauty of a society who celebrates scientific (and algorithmic) discovery but we must ask how to bring this about with equity, social justice and sustainability. Automation is not an answer in and of itself. We must work to make technological develop benefit all so everyone could have a place in humanities central tasks, whether they be algorithmic discovery or something else completely.
(2) when making predictions about futurity, assumptions could lead to unexpected social problems as people work towards the predictions they like best
To end I really do love the post and believe that algorithms will play an important (and wonderful) role in future creativity but we have to look more closely at the social vectors that might get us there.