Where is AI headed? Two media theorists from the 1960s can help us figure it out

The 1960s were a time of significant technological, cultural, and political change. During this period, television was transforming the media landscape, and two theorists from that era – Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan and French theorist Guy Debord – have gained relevance once again as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve. Investors are pouring billions into AI companies and data centers, but it is crucial to understand the implications of this technology.

McLuhan observed that new media often begin by replicating content from older media. However, they eventually give rise to novel forms of content that are uniquely suited to the new medium. With generative AI, people are currently using it to produce old content in a new medium, such as writing essays or generating pop songs. However, hints of genuinely new forms of AI-enabled communication are beginning to emerge, such as Google's Project Genie, which creates real-time explorable worlds, and academic experiments with AI-generated linked modules in books.

Debord argued that capitalist societies develop media technologies that transform our experiences into mediated representations for commodification. In his 1967 book, "The Society of the Spectacle," he predicted that much of what was once experienced would become mediated by technology. In the mobile era, this trend intensified as people engaged with friends through social media, met romantic partners online, conducted political activity through digital means, and entertained themselves with content accessible anywhere and anytime.

AI has expanded the possibilities for mediation and commodification, leading to a future where even aspects of human life previously untouched by technology might be influenced by AI-infused mediums. Debord suggested that to predict AI's trajectory, one should consider what remains in human life outside the economy and how AI could take over these areas. Entertainment, exercise, sleep, friendships, romance, and food are just a few examples that could be affected by AI-mediated experiences.

Human beings are social creatures whose lives revolve around communication through media, whether it is with friends and family or through printed words or artificial intelligence. To truly understand AI, we must view it as a medium rather than a tool or intelligence. Asking "what can AI do?" is insufficient; we should instead ask "how does AI change our media environment?"

This perspective could lead to positive outcomes, such as reducing time spent on email, administrative tasks, and menial work while promoting more time spent in nature with friends.

However, Debord's ideas suggest that without significant changes, the future may involve humans becoming increasingly alienated from one another as media technologies continually draw our attention away from sensory experiences towards consuming content and goods. This could have detrimental effects on both the quality of human life and the environment. As McLuhan famously stated, "there is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening."