A.I. and Aionic Time
“Aionic” time, named after the other Hellenistic diety of time, Aion, is non-linear. It is often defined as the collective story and essence of civilization, cyclical and recurring. Artists, Writers, Musicians and Filmmakers utilize Aionic time in the storytelling process. Aionic time is different from chronological time, associated with the diety Chronos, which is linear and divided into Past, Present, and Future. The concept of eternity is often thought of as chronological time without end, but Aionic Eternity is an ever recurring cycle of creativity, ritual, decline and re-imagining.
In July of 2023, I released an album of ambient music entitled “The Mysterious Art Of Procrastination” as Pranavam Das. The body of work is part of an effort to re-valuate time in consideration of the creative act.
The initial spark for this notion is part of a larger idea that arose from a conversation with some friends one night about making art that is intentionally imperfect and flawed, in order to distinguish it as wholly human, in the face of an A.I. enhanced world - consciously created imperfection, a wrench in the overly ordered and speedy machine.
We jokingly named our artistic and creative rebellion as: “The Zag Movement.” As in, “when they zig...”
It’s not about money. Because everything is about money. It’s not about fame, because that’s what the internet has become. Zag is a striving for something akin to the imperfect organizational complexity of biology.
In jest, around a campfire, we impetuously and admittedly laughed at our own naivety, but some real questions began to take hold. Firstly, although A.I. seems to be here to “help” make our lives easier, is it truly freeing, or is simply leading us into a more complex system of control?
The warning bells have been going off among creative types around the A.I. conundrum. The first and most personal reaction is “will I suddenly be obsolete?”
Another question: “So if we can create ‘art’ ‘literature’ and ‘music’ with the typing of a few simple words in a search bar, what value/meaning does art have?”
“Is it simply a means to an end? What end? Commercial? Spiritual? Something else?”
Art, Music, Theater, Dance, Literature are what lead and define culture. All inquiry, even the sciences, rely on that which is put forth by the creative collective. Perhaps we are heading towards an era whereby all worries are transcended and all life proceeds according to the rules of Aionic time.
But my suspicion is, being quite familiar with us humans, A.I. will be more or less a magnified version of ourselves. All the good intentions, but absolute power corrupts absolutely. Morality and ethics are inversely proportional to power. More power, less rules, less accountability, and so on, and so on.
Try telling a toddler “No.” Now try telling an omniscient toddler with a thread into the comings and goings of practically every living soul and electronic device on the planet, “No.”
Unfounded fear? Perhaps. But, for now, the Algorithmic Age is here, controlling our questions and narrative with every query. It listens to our conversations and remembers our habits.
Gary Heidt, artist, musician and producer, suggested to me that we need to put more effort into tasking A.I. to restore crappy audio recordings from the dawn of the phonographic era, making them sound more pristine, thereby immersing and placing the listener in a room with legendary musicians and musical moments. In this regard, A.I. becomes the key to a form of time-travel, a.k.a Aionic Time.
“The Mysterious Art Of Procrastination” is an attempt at invoking this Aionic Realm. No A.I. was utilized in its conception. Neither was it created to be listened “to” or “at,” but “with.” - A ritual, if you will.
In the meantime, keep on doing it, because nobody does it like you do.
There will be a follow-up album, “Perfecting The Art Of Imperfection.” As we know, these things take time.