The B.O.D.
Into the Gloss
Warby Parker
The Brooklyn Mavens
WIP
Zoe Clark
Sophia Roe
WIP
Aesop
WIP
Moussse Skincare
Kim Shui
Zoe Gutavia Anna Whalen
Reese Cooper
Aesop
Criterion Collection
Sketchbook
Travel diaries
Jojo Rabbit Collage
“Where I’ve Been”
WIP
“I am a collection of everything I’ve ever loved”
I wonder if this is how Americans felt in the 1950s, having just successfully created the atomic bomb. Marveling at their creation and trembling at the new, irreversible reality they have just committed to. For better or for worse, there was no going back. I think about what the science of technology means for the science of the natural world — existing, sometimes, at such opposite ends of the spectrum of humanity that it feels remarkable to classify them in the same subject of thought.
Maybe I am dramatic. Classically selfish in my perception of the world at only 27; assuming that life begins and ends with my experience of it. Sounding the alarms upon realizing that I too, like every generation before me, am living through the most current iteration of great historical change and significance.
Or maybe I am simply naïve, considering that AI was being built and studied for years and even decades before it permeated everyday life. One could argue that we’ve had plenty of time to prepare for this very moment. Apocalyptic movies set in the future and filled with robots are far from a new genre. The highly acclaimed and widely-watched movie Her was released in 2014. Siri and Alexa are already 15 and 12 years old, respectively, although they have always been seen as friendly and harmless, fun afterthoughts or mild additions to everyday life at best. It was unbeknownst to me until very recently, although I grew up with laptops and PCs, that artificial intelligence has been around nearly as long as modern programmable computers (link). That Alan Turing, beyond being known as the primary inventor of the algorithm and computer as we know it, was also a pioneer of machine intelligence.
I still remember the first time I saw AI at work with my own two eyes- at least to my acute knowledge. I was on a family trip to Portugal. My brother was in the other room, doing some admin work for a college club he helped run, and had to send a dutiful yet friendly email to all the club's members. He brought my mom and me into his room in our Airbnb to show us as he fed a half-chewed copy of a first draft into a new website called ChatGPT and immediately, in real time, got a fully edited and polished version fed back to him. His words and ideas, but better, and done in less than a minute. It seemed like magic.
Since that moment, in 2022, that magic has largely waned from the zeitgeist. I have seen AI not so much spread as descend over us, sweeping the population with a tidal wave of uncertainty often referred to as an endless “restructuring”. People on the internet have turned into millionaires and billionaires and people in my neighborhood have been laid off. Entire industries, with undergraduate and master’s degrees and an ecosystem of companies dedicated to their continued progress, are being questioned for their ongoing vitality. The conversation around AI immediately became another vehicle for polarization- one which left me trepidacious to explore it in depth for a very, very long time. And personally, the technology felt so advanced, even in its earlier days, that it left me completely intimidated.
But I’ve also noticed over these last few years, as I’ve traveled the world through a vast number of cultures and to some of the richest and poorest places on Earth, just how powerful technology can be in bringing us all together- both in spirit and exposure and also in opportunity. I’ve humbled my worldview- one that is deeply Western in predisposition- to account for those who were born into a different reality somewhere else on this Earth and whose relationship to technology, newness, and opportunity naturally reflects that.
I’ve deeply considered my own relationship to AI- often in tandem with my relationship to social media. Both of which serve as poignant, often unsettling mirrors of my lingering insecurities and visual, petulant reminders of what disturbs, agitates, and provokes me most from the far reaches of what lies beyond my control. I’ve recognized that, as some other scientists have confirmed, all energy is neutral until directed, and that it is my responsibility to reorient this direction first and foremost.
And I’ve also realized, as nervous as I am about the uncertainty of the future, that protesting the reality will not make the inevitable go away. The question should not be if things will change, but how, towards what, for whom, and most importantly, by whom. If everyone who cares about preserving humanity within technology and using scientific and technological advancement for a better world is opting out of this project, then the only people left to carry out the work will be those with notably different intentions. Likewise, if there are no models — no one brave enough to imagine what a more human-centered relationship to this technology could look like — then the only future being built is the one designed by those who never considered that question in the first place.
When I say there is no going back, I believe that. As much as I believe that my stance on the matter does not make me a cynic but rather a good businesswoman, not the kind that cuts corners to save costs but the kind who is hopeful yet pragmatic, who makes sound decisions rooted in fact, and who understands that survival of any kind, be it biologically or economically, requires adaptation and evolution.
As a creative, it feels all too easy to succumb to a certain widely held belief that AI is our arch nemesis. It is the antagonist in our hero’s journey. But in many ways, aside from being ultimately unrealistic, I also find that to be the most un-creative take of all.
I resent the idea that to be a creative one must only be a person of traditional craft or who works with chosen colors and media. The brightest and boldest creative ideas are often not entirely different from scientific inventions- coming about from problem-solving, thinking beyond prescribed terms, and creating a path forward- often through tense, pressure-mounting moments.
There are some graphic designers, photographers, videographers, and other creative technologists who treat this wave of technological advancement as the new frontier — as if we are in the age of exploration, and adapting to new modes of procedure is an entirely untapped mode of thought. They forget that before Adobe, designers cut by hand, drew their own typefaces, and built every graphic element physically. Before Apple computers and the rise of the PC, graphic design, although rooted in the same principles, was an entirely different discipline. Once the software arrived, the craft didn’t become worthless but rather the foundation for taste, judgment, and a true mastery of skill that is only achieved through time and practice. Something that no software alone could replicate.
I realized as much when I learned graphic design a few years ago. The curriculum, as to be expected, was a near-even mix of principles and technical platforms to master. And I remember experiencing the frustration, over and over again with each brief assigned, of learning the tech enough to make something decent but not yet acquiring the hard-won skill it takes to make something truly good.
And so, to assume that human understanding is all of a sudden obsolete is, in my opinion, to fundamentally misunderstand how to use and implement the tools of AI. This false assumption is also likely the reason why most people still struggle to use it effectively or get quality results.
The human understanding and years of expertise I have built are not obsolete, the same way that the designer from the 70s who cut out his own clipping masks by hand is not void of skill with Photoshop. This skill has just moved up the ladder, the way that a director’s early technical work becomes invisible in their leadership yet remains entirely present in how they lead, manage, and make decisions.
I do not believe it is my job to compete with what AI can generate, but rather to know what is worth generating in the first place. To demonstrate that when humans adapt to this technology thoughtfully, the workflow is symbiotic and better for it. And to help make sure that as this technology develops and sophisticates, there are people in the room who care deeply about the human experience on the other side of it.
This piece was written with light AI assistance for grammar and structure. All thoughts and creative writing devices used are my own.