As the art historian Jennifer Roberts argued several years ago, “Just because something is available instantly to vision does not mean that it is available instantly to consciousness.” Or, as she also puts it, just because you have looked at something doesn’t mean that you have seen it.
Growing your sense of agency leads you to see more degrees of freedom in your life. The painful corollary of that is: when you see that you are freer than you thought, you also have more responsibility. But once you accept the responsibility, that is the real gift, not the freedom.
The mind likes what it can currently understand and control. If what you are presented with is something that will radically transform you ability to show up as you currently have been with the same degree of focus, attention and devotion — it will likely push you away from it.
But I think it speaks to something much deeper. There has been a deep hollowing out of soul in technology. And I think the reason this conversation has resonated so deeply, is because it gives them a type of permission to be soulful again with their work RIGHT WHEN ai is creating an anxiety of what the individual brings into their work process.
I think the most interesting creative tools going forward won’t try to be everything. They’ll choose a lane, express a point of view, and build an experience around it. In this world, the tool becomes a collaborator with strong opinions about what good work looks like. You don’t choose tools purely for functionality. You choose them like you’d... See more