Aaron Hertzmann’s blog

As new modern technologies branded “artificial intelligence” transform our world, so much of the modern discussion around “AI” derives from science fiction, since that’s the closest reference point many people seem to use for these new technologies (as op…

Over the past eight years, I’ve given many talks to computer science audiences, arguing that computers will not be considered artists.

Sometimes when I sketch quickly, I feel like I’m scribbling some random squiggles, and, yet, recognizable shapes of my subjects emerge: This experience feels a bit like magic when it works out, like pure fluid intution.

“AI” enthusiasts arguing for “AI” consciousness say: prove to me that you are conscious; I’ve heard this many times from computer scientists.

“On a bench one afternoon in a grassy park in Minneapolis, I realized what I liked best about the dogs of Minneapolis is that they have no idea that they’re in Minneapolis.”

If asked to draw a picture of a tree or a person in front of them, many people would say “I cannot draw.”

In this blog post, I tell a story of how some technologies from the past century or so have, overall, led to increased social isolation in the United States, as we replaced in-person social interactions with technology.

When text-to-image generation became big in 2022, many people reacted in shock.

In 1877, Edison introduced the phonograph cylinders, the first musical recording media.

Ever since I read Guns, Germs, and Steel, and then more books like it, I started a mental category of “books that changed the way I see the world.”