The UK government’s new AI Opportunities Action Plan was launched using this strange phrase: “Today’s plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation.”
It caught the eye of artist-composer Jennifer Walshe, who poked fun at it in a recent talk on her new book, (pictured above).
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Look up “mainline” in a dictionary, Walshe told a crowd at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, and it is mostly associated with heroin use. It seemed “an unorthodox phrasing for a government to use in a press release”, she said.
Light-hearted and playful, Walshe’s take on AI is also refreshing. Is AI a kind of fan fiction in the way it emulates popular artists, she wonders? Or is it like an energy drink, promising more with less? Perhaps it is a companion species, offering relationships like those we have with pets?
Viewing AI through this prismatic lens is key, thinks Walshe, because it means so many things to so many people.
