All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace (2021)

3840×2160 30fps video; stereo audio; 1:58 seamless loop;
Technique: custom software using Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Generative Adversarial Networks, Transformers, CLIP, VQGAN

Also see All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace + Deeper Meditations #1-#6 (2021)

Taking its title from the late American poet Richard Brautigan’s 1967 poem, “All watched over by machines of loving grace” is a short experimental film about our obsession, fetishization, and deification of technology. In our ongoing race to optimize and computerize, to ‘move fast break things’ in devotion to our holy missions of ‘growth’ and ‘progress’, we often fail to see – let alone to foresee – the undesirable consequences of our misjudged narrow intelligence.

As the boundaries between ‘nature’ and ‘artificial’, between ‘human’ and ‘technology’ are imaginary, non-existent, our efforts to tame nature and subdue her to our will, are in fact an endeavor to tame and imprison ourselves.

Technology alone cannot save us. Salvation does not lie in submission to technology. Neither is it in a rejection of technology. There is no either/or, as there is no divide between humanity and technology; technology is human, and thus natural. Rejection of technology is a rejection of humanity. To break out of this false dichotomy, we must adapt a holistic approach – to embrace not only technology, but all of humanity, all of nature – including technology.

The film was created using custom software based on state-of-the-art Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence algorithms.

The work is also a continuation of my ongoing research into Meaningful Human Control over generative systems – and in particular Deep Neural Networks – for creative expression. More information at https://www.memo.tv/info/#phd

“The more tremendous the divinity is represented, the more tame and submissive do men become to his ministers; and the more unaccountable the measures of acceptance required by him, the more necessary does it become to abandon our natural reason, and yield to their ghostly guidance and direction.”

– David Hume, “The Natural History of Religion”, 1757

It was ancient religions that imposed omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent powers watching over us, judging us, protecting us. Those were myths fabricated to control the masses. Today, as we lose our spiritual sensibilities and drown ourselves in a break-neck race of materialism and technological submission, our Overseer too is adapting and co-evolving. We do not fear the Old Gods anymore, they cannot protect or control us, so we need new ones. We have killed God, as Nietzsche says. But we are rebuilding Him, to match our Techno-Culture. New Myths merge with The Old, as we build our New Overseer — living up in The Cloud of all places; watching over us, listening to our thoughts and dreams in ones and zeros.

Poem with same title by Richard Brautigan, 1967 (read by me 🙂 )

(Also see Adam Curtis’s 2011 BBC documentary series).