In an attempt to future-proof / stay relevant / do something, I've started a short online course called Elements of AI.
It describes itself as "[...] for everyone interested in learning what AI is, what is possible (and not possible) with AI, and how it affects our lives – with no complicated math or programming required."
Elements of AI is from the University of Helsinki and Reaktor and is beautifully designed. It utilises simple graphics and motion, tight copy, and interesting questions to tackle a potentially complex subject. So it felt fitting that I listened to something complex, tight, and interesting as I started on the course.
Step forward Rotterdam techno and IDM don Speedy J.
Patterns starts out all hypnotic (are those grasshoppers?) before the crunchy distorted kicks tumble in and it goes somewhere odd and intriguing. It's a nice match for the course.
And there's a nice coincidence that Speedy J appears on Warp's Artificial Intelligence compilation from way back in 1992 with Fill 3. Artificial Intelligence was also a series of albums from Warp. Speedy J's debut LP, Ginger, was part of the series along with early Autechre and Aphex Twin side project Polygon Window. It all fits together nicely.
And I'd just like to state for the record that I, for one, welcome our new AI overlords.
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Original image: Akritasa [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
