THE FUTURE IS NOW!

NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!

NOW! NOW! NOW!

NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!

NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!

NOW!

NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!

Satisfaction Not Guaranteed, 2024. Digital Mixed Media ©

1,023 ads in one day.

Wake up, and scroll through social. 14 ads before getting out of bed. Podcast with your morning coffee. 18 ads before leaving the house.

25 ads walking down the subway platform. Another 20 ads in a subway car. More scrolling. more scrolling. more scrolling. more scrolling. more scrolling.

“100% Pure Joy!”

“Guaranteed lowest prices!”

Billboard ads, wheat-pasted ads, bus ads, taxi ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads.

621 now.

“Go further, faster!”

“BELIEVE IT!”
TV commercials, website ads, SEO marketing, promotional emails.
ads
ads
ads AdS
ads
ADS
ads

ads

And so on…..

More!, 2024. Digital Mixed Media ©

Advertising is ubiquitous in our everyday lives. A constant noise in our physical and digital spaces to which we’ve become desensitized to its proliferation.

Because of this, it has long served as a mirror, reflecting evolving societal and cultural trends over decades. From beauty to fashion to technology, shifting norms, progress, and values can be seen in ads.

Technology as a focal point in advertising

allows us to track shifts in cultural norms across time and map them against the progression of technological capabilities.

How innovations get packaged offers a window into how society reckons with technological change.

Macintosh Ad, 1984

Motorola Ad, 1985

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” — Arthur C. Clarke.

A popular quote by Clarke is often used when talking about new technology, especially with the widespread introduction of generative AI.

What happens when what was once advanced technology becomes outdated, ubiquitous, and ceases to be

“magical”?

With every new technology, novelty wears off over time, and standards of expectations change. AI is not magic, it is a technology, a powerful tool that can both disrupt and enhance.

Soon, it will cease to be a novelty.

Think Later, 2024. Digital Mixed Media ©

“Move fast and break things”

has been the popular motto of Silicon Valley. The idea that more is always better, and as fast as possible is the speed at which everything must happen. Throw it out there and see what happens. Ask for forgiveness, not permission.

If we are to build a better future with technology, as so many companies and their products promise, then we must take the time to plan, question, and discuss the direction that we want to head in. As generative AI models, in particular, grow more and more powerful, we must think critically about their societal impacts rather than throwing it under a loose terms of service.

As consumers of these products,

we hold the collective power to shape the future we desire.

With generative AI disrupting and transforming industries, especially in the creative realm, we as artists must have a say in the direction we take.

Art and technology are inextricably intertwined; technological advances provide new tools, mediums, and platforms for art. AI algorithms on digital platforms, which artists have relied on to showcase their art, curate what content is shown, when, and to whom, and the online advertisements we encounter. It is both the tastemaker and the monetizer.

Therefore, technology’s influence also extends into the advertising realm, highlighting the intersection between art, technology and commerce.

What happens when art occupies spaces traditionally reserved for advertising?
Where does the line between art and advertisement start and end?
How can we use generative AI as a tool to create art that interrogates the very technology it uses?

In The Wild, 2024. Digital Mixed Media ©

Through speculative advertisements for future technological products, how can we pause and reflect?

Where do we stand now in relation to our past,

and where are we headed from this present point?

By envisioning the future in the present, how can we ask the right questions to understand if we’re progressing in the trajectory we desire?

Honda Civic Ad, 1988.

Then, Now, 2024. Digital Mixed Media ©

From self-driving cars to hover cars?

What was then, what is now, and where are we going?

Gameboy Color Ad, 2000.

Don’t Forget, 2024. Digital Mixed Media ©

Generative AI allows for the ability of limitless content creation. What once took careful planning and time is now just a prompt and a click away - images and words can be generated within seconds, infinitely. When supply exceeds demand, how does that change the value of the content or the way in which we consume it?

How does this immediate gratification change our behaviors? What is worth automating and what is worth continuing to do the hard way?

Generative AI draws upon troves of data, the intellectual and creative commons of humanity. Each generated image is the result of training from millions of others. This in turn shifts us from the idea of a sole artist towards a collective artistic identity, where the artist, as it relates to generative AI, becomes a collaborator.

Nonstop Fun, 2024. Digital Mixed Media ©

Does limitless, generative content creation lead to highly personalized content? Does this in turn create ever-bigger echo chambers, where individuals remain unaware of anything outside their tailored worlds?

In an age where algorithmic curation means no one consumes the same content streams, will our interactions change, eroding our ability to relate and find common ground?

Will we in turn just become physical, walking echo chambers ourselves, isolated in our own curated realities?

They say the medium is the message, so what then is the message of the medium of AI?

Apple iMac G3 Mouse Ad, 1998.

See Different, 2024. Digital Mixed Media ©

From tracking our clicks to tracking our eyes, where will advertisement and technology take us next as the platforms we interact with change?

Distribution shapes the content we create and consume

and in turn the physical world around us.

Data is oil,
data is money,
data is power!

In the digital age, data has become the new valuable commodity that drives economies and shapes human experiences. We are in the age of personalized advertising, where each person is served something different, tailored to their unique, individual tastes through sophisticated algorithms analyzing our data trails.

What do we lose from a lack of randomness and serendipity?

Participating in society requires surrendering various data points; we either provide data or we collect it.

As data becomes currency, we need robust policies around data rights, consent, and ownership. Who truly benefits from this wealth of data being harvested en masse?

Porsche Ad, Date unknown.

As technology integrates further into our everyday lives, when will we reach the point where it starts becoming part of us?

Implanted and integrated into our physical forms,

where does human end and machine begin?

With increasing mechanical and artificial labor, will physical human labor become more valuable, even luxurious?

What is essential to being human?

Will we care if products and services cease coming from people? What gets lost when we remove the human touch? What intangible qualities do we lose?

Magnavox Ad, 1988.

Artificial general intelligence is the race at which we’re speeding towards, but when will we know when we’ve reached it, if at all possible? Where is this supposed “finish line” if the benchmarks and thresholds that we use to measure AGI shift over time?

What does it mean to be human in the age of advanced AI capabilities? As task automation proliferates, does the essence of being human then lie in what we experience rather than what we do?

Is consciousness and being alive what truly sets us apart? Or do we elevate other human traits that may be difficult to replicate in silico, such as empathy, emotional intelligence, and the pursuit of purpose?

Maybe it is the connections we forge with each other that become paramount as we seek meaning beyond productive outputs.

As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of technology, particularly the advent of generative AI, it's crucial that we pause and reflect on the trajectory we're taking.

How can we create opportunities to envision alternative futures that also interrogate the very tools we wield?

Our future is not an inevitability,

but a choice we make collectively.