Yesterday, I got to experience a wonderful event called Enter the Void.
All sorts of talented people gathered for the event in Ueno, Tokyo.
We met a saw demonstrations of some highly talented people’s works, heard their views on technology and art and spent a fun and enjoyable day.
For me, personally, it was an eye-opener.
I’m neither tech savvy or particularly artistic, so it wasn’t an event designed for the likes of me in mind.
Other participants were, for the most part, heavily involved in art and tech.
As a result, I got to see things that an earlier version of me would have regarded as pure magic.
For instance, there were apps by fashion designers that enabled prospective buyers to check out what their clothes would look like without needing to try them on.
Users of virtual reality who’ve known each other for years in the cyberworld actually got to meet in person for the first time!
High school kids were writing and producing their own picture books, and using AI to give their stories tighter storylines to make them more readable.
Then there was all sorts of amazing art, such as using coding to jazz up ASCII drawings to make them move, and amazing projection mapping.
We discussed ideas such as using an interaction of music and AI to create fashion and art.
It was also surprising to see both fear and confidence among the technologically competent when it comes to AI.
AI has put the fear of God into me! My company tried several years ago to replace me with AI, but it wasn’t quite up to scratch at the time. That’s not the case now, so it threatens my lifestyle. And I’m scared. And that’s a fear shared with many around the world.
Many of the people I talked to at the event felt the far, but said there would also be opportunities as AI promises to relieve them of mundane drudgeries and free their hands to explore more challenging tasks.
Interestingly, a coder I asked about what the more challenging tasks would be said it would probably entail learning things manually.
I laughed! I’m becoming increasingly useless in the workforce and the outlook for my skill set is pretty bleak. My conclusion to addressing this has so far been that I should look for manual labor.
Anyway, I got to end the day in the way I like most: escaping from reality! I got to do this through my first experience with virtual reality. And I absolutely loved it, walking through a ukiyoe-like scene that will filled with utter beauty!
