What does Jason Isbell have to do with Artificial
Intelligence?
Many fear artificial intelligence; that it will in essence, at
the end of the logic, replace us. A fortiori, AI will replace artists. As
chatbots and AI grows in power and seemingly to expand the definition of
intelligence to the point of replacing us and our aesthetic endeavors, I
propose that Jason Isbell puts this idea to rest.
If you haven’t heard, Jason Isbell garnered Grammy nominations for Best
Americana Album for “Weathervanes,” Best Americana Performance for “King of
Oklahoma” and Best American Roots Song for “Cast Iron Skillet.”
Some
background on Isbell is relevant for my purposes. Per the Music Box
documentary, the divorce of his parents impacted him greatly. He is a
recovering alcoholic, at one point he overdosed while he was in Drive-By
Truckers.
What does
this have to do with AI?
The driving
idea behind AI replacing us and our aesthetic endeavors, is that if we just
feed the software enough data and provide enough computing power, AI can
produce art.
But I
contend that art requires a body. Art can’t be produced with just data and
computational power.
I contend
that Jason Isbell’s trauma is in his body, and that it feeds his art. His body
is a resource for aesthetics. The word I used with my therapist is “incarnate.”
Isbell’s experience, interacting with his memory and his skill and craft, honed
over decades of practice and performance and listening (which necessitates a
body) produce art. Art that moves you and me, and him.
In the
Music Box documentary, he gets choked up singing one of his own songs. The
power of Cast Iron Skillet isn’t
really measurable. Watch CBS’ John Dickerson hold back emotion after Isbell
performs Cast Iron Skillet here at 39:45. It took this guy
about 2:17.
Art
requires emotion, production and reception. Emotions require bodies with
hormones and chemicals and electricity in a delicate balance.
The
delicate balance of guitar, harmony, and lyrics is what Isbell manipulates in Cast Iron Skillet, and in my humble
opinion, Isbell is a master at a level few humans will ever reach.
Reaching
requires a body. Art requires a body.
Culture is
in his songs.
Tie in
George Carlin’s line about “a little secret about the blues. You don’t just
need to know which notes to play, you have to know why they need to be played.”
AI doesn’t
possess a why. AI isn’t motivated. AI doesn’t feel compelled to write songs.
Jason Isbell
does feel compelled.
Be thankful
for Jason Isbell, and don’t fear for artists.
