SUNDAY SCROLL: Pick Up Your Instruments, Paint Brushes & Pens!
"Chat GPT is fast tracking the commoditisation of the human spirit by mechanising the imagination." Nick Cave, Songwriter
In my About section and welcome emails I am at pains to point out that I am not anti-tech I am just pro-human, after all I am writing this on a laptop over a 4G network powered by my Android phone whilst listening to Spotify!
I think technology is a miraculous tool but it is just that - a tool, one of many at our disposal UNLESS the tech companies have their way.
As I wrote in my Thursday Thoughts, Apple’s new ad is a warning that if we completely outsource our creativity to computers, we’ll never get it back. This is why we must continue to pick up our instruments, paint brushes and pens to express ourselves unmediated by algorithms and unperfected by filters.
Even Substack, of which I am a huge fan, keeps trying to make me spell like an American, prodding my perfectionist brain with its little red squiggles beneath words like ‘colour’ and ‘honour’, but we mustn’t give in and allow our diverse voices to be homogenized by mindless machines.
Have a great Sunday, Neal x
Read This… Producer asks Nirvana to “be paid like a plumber”
I was very sad to read this week that iconic musician and producer Steve Albini passed away at 61. He accomplished a great deal in his short life but was probably most famous for producing Nirvana’s third album ‘In Utero’.
Unlike other producers Albini refused to take a royalty on any record because, “I think paying a royalty to a producer or engineer is ethically indefensible. The band write the songs. The band play the music. It's the band's fans who buy the records. The band is responsible for whether it's a great record or a horrible record. Royalties belong to the band. I would like to paid like a plumber.”
In his pitch letter to Kurt, Dave and Chris (sic), he explains why he’s the right person for the job. It’s not only his personal integrity but his passion for preserving the warts-and-all authenticity of the band that I find such an inspiration amongst an artistic A.I.pocalypse.
Watch This… Stephen Fry reads Nick Cave's stirring letter about ChatGPT and human creativity
This couldn’t be any more up my alley if ChatGPT had custom made it just for me - no explanation needed!
Listen To This… Songs produced by Steve Albini
If you find autotune grating, digital drums repetitive or you’re just Swifted out, try this 33 song playlist of music produced by Steve Albini that should illustrate his ability to capture the authentic sound of every artist he worked with.
Look At This…Queen Of Punk Calls Out A.I. Fakers
A little-known business model of the A.I. era is to piggyback on book releases by having ChatGPT write rip offs then uploading them to Amazon to sell slightly cheaper than the author’s work in the hope that readers will be fooled in to buying the fake. Original Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna is about to release her autobiography so, inevitably, a bunch of rips offs have appeared on Amazon and she’s calling them out on IG!
Do This… Pick Up Your Instruments, Paint Brushes & Pens!
When I write fiction (‘Virtually Innocent’ short story available from Amazon Kindle NOW!), I find it more enjoyable and successful to write longhand on paper. Opening the laptop feels too much like work and instantly forces me into formatting my writing like an email or a blog post, which it isn’t.
So, this week, as the headline suggests, I would encourage you to pick up your instruments, your paintbrushes and pens to express yourself unmediated by technology. To commit yourselves to getting better at a craft. To focus on a single, analogue activity to the exclusion of all else. And to remember that we can create without apps, platforms, ads and fees - not exclusively but as part of a balanced digital diet.