If Bilbo had Chat GPT

Along the way, I discuss: vibe maintenance and emotional regulation playlists; the omnipresence of Sabrina Carpenter; AI slop and ghost artists on Spotify; and the possibility that we might find more productive ways of incorporating recommender systems into our lives.

This paper tries to spell out a few ways that overreliance on recommender systems is problematic for aesthetic flourishing. I argue that recommender systems funnel us towards both content and modes of engagement that, all things considered, we might have reservations about.

Most of us know that these algorithms aren't neutral; they're designed to captivate us and keep us on the streaming platform at all costs. But what are the consequences of this for our aesthetic lives—for the development of our taste, our overall enjoyment, or our aesthetic autonomy?

Recommender systems seem like a tech fix for the problem of being overwhelmed by options on streaming platforms like Spotify or Netflix. You click a few things, spend some time watching and listening, and the algorithm cherry-picks the next thing for you from vast oceans of content.

Anthony Cross, Algorithmic Recommendation and Aesthetic Flourishing - PhilPapers In the age of streaming, we face a pressing problem of aesthetic choice: how are we to navigate the overwhelming quantity of content to which we now have access? Streaming platforms ...

I'm very excited to share the pre-print of my paper, "Algorithmic Recommendation and Aesthetic Flourishing," newly forthcoming in the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism!

#philsky #techethics #philai

(See thread for the short preview)

Anthony Cross, Aesthetic Life in the Digital Age: How Emerging Technologies Affect Creativity, Consumption, and Community - PhilArchive What does aesthetic life look like in the digital age? This chapter explores the impact that AI, algorithms, social networking, and other technological innovations have had on the ways that we ...

Looking for an intro-friendly text on the impact of tech and AI on aesthetic life?

Check out this chapter I wrote, just published in the new Routledge Introduction to Contemp Aesthetics by @emmiemalone.bsky.social and @lizscar.bsky.social

philarchive.org/rec/CROALI
#philtech #techethics

Had a nice time chatting with @shaneisland.bsky.social about “aesthetic” and internet aesthetics for this wonderful piece in @washingtonpost.com

In his discussion of forgeries, Dutton is very clear on one point: creating a forgery is a kind of achievement, just not the kind of achievement that we might have initially thought it was. The same is no doubt true of AI-generated art; Allen’s work is an artistic performance, and it is to some degree an achievement. But, as Dutton puts it, ‘the fundamental question then is, what has the artist done, what has he achieved?’. This is a question which, for AI-generated art, has hardly even been asked. - Anthony Cross, Tool, Collaborator, or Participant: AI and Artistic Agency

AI art anyone? 😬

Anthony Cross takes the plunge in our brand new issue. doi.org/10.1093/aest... #philsky