Beyond the Machine

In this essay—the transcript of a talk given at a web conference in Brooklyn—designer Frank Chimero considers artificial intelligence as an instrument, versus an intelligence or tool, and thinks about using AI in terms of spatial relationships. “Where do I stand in relation to the machine—above it, beside it, under it?” he asks. “Each position carries a different kind of power dynamic. To be above is to steer, beside is to collaborate, below is to serve.” Studying the work of professionals across creative industries, from music producer Rick Rubin to filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, Chimero encourages us think about how to work with the machine, and even step inside it, as we create.

If working in the Rubin style puts you under the machine, Eno works beside it. He sets up a system with his inputs and samples, then listens, selects, and continues to shape. Eno often says while making music he feels like a gardener: planting loops and textures, then watching them sprout into something unexpected with the potential to become incredibly beautiful with a little bit of care and pruning. The machine may produce material, but the job of shaping it into something meaningful still rests with him. It is creativity as cultivation.