RISD Debates in AI: Brian Merchant

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05/16/24 • 14 min

In this episode you’ll hear from the writer Brian Merchant who was the first Debates in AI panel, “What’s Work Got to Do With It?” Brian Merchant, a technology journalist and former tech columnist at the LA Times, is widely recognized for his insightful analysis of automation, labor and technology’s environmental impact. Merchant is author of the bestselling The One Device (Little, Brown and Company, 2017) and most recently Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech (Little, Brown and Company, 2023). This new book explores the Luddites’ misunderstood uprising and the modern implications of tech deployment. In addition to writing for prominent publications, Merchant founded Terraform, VICE’s speculative fiction site. He shares updates and discussions on technology’s societal impact through his newsletter, offering a critical perspective on who technology serves and its broader consequences.

To watch talks from the two-day symposium, head over to AI-Debates.risd.edu. You can also listen to each of them wherever you find your podcasts. Support for the event was from the Divisions of Liberal Arts, Experimental and Foundation Studies, and Architecture & Design, as well as the Fleet Library and the Center for Arts and Language. Thank you to our largest contributor, the Center for Complexity and the RISD 2050 Fund for kicking off this important conversation.

Audio produced by Andrew Grant, Marisa Mazria Katz and Bilal Qureshi

Music: "Imagery" and "Last Night" by Xylo-Ziko

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Audio produced by Andrew Grant, Marisa Mazria Katz and Bilal Qureshi

Music: "Imagery" and "Last Night" by Xylo-Ziko

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

RISD Debates in AI: Molly Crabapple

In this episode you’ll hear from the artist Molly Crabapple who was on Debates in AI first panel, “What’s Work Got to Do With It?” Molly’s written and illustrated for the New York Times, New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, and so many more. Last year, she told us about the time she took a whirl on the text to image generator Dall-e. She typed in: Syrian city destroyed by war drawn by Molly Crabapple. And all of a sudden drawings popped up that looked like half-baked versions of her work.

Seeing these images prompted a cascade of protests. She wrote an op-ed in the LA Times calling AI "vampirized technology," and a letter with the Center for Artistic Inquiry and Reporting calling for newsrooms to restrict AI illustration so that illustrators and graphic designers wouldn’t find themselves without a job. What this tech means to her, her work and her future is why she spoke at RISD’s Debates in AI.

Audio produced by Andrew Grant, Marisa Mazria Katz and Bilal Qureshi

Music: "Imagery" and "Last Night" by Xylo-Ziko

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

RISD Debates in AI: Eric Telfort

Eric Telfort was part of Debates in AI first panel, What's Work Got to Do With It. Eric is an illustrator and fine artist who earned his BFA in Illustration from RISD and, after working as a production artist in the video game industry, an MFA from the New York Academy of Art. Telfort has lectured throughout the US and internationally in Zimbabwe, where he was a Visual Arts Initiative artist in residence. In 2019, he received a Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship to explore creativity in poverty and pursue a personal, independent visual novel. He is an associate professor and head of the Illustration department at RISD.

Audio produced by Andrew Grant, Marisa Mazria Katz and Bilal Qureshi

Music: "Imagery" and "Last Night" by Xylo-Ziko

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.