AI statement
AI at Slow Things
Slow Things works with technology and AI is no exception. This is key to understanding the practice and philosophy of slow data: not a broad-spectrum aversion to technology, but to develop fundamental understanding to posit better futures.
However, the products and solutions that Slow Things provide are not 'vibe-coded' affairs.
Instead, the transdisciplinary practice behind Slow Things embraces AI with care: to learn from its use, assist human-driven creative decisions scaffolded by decades of 'pre-AI' art and design practice, and respond through creative interventions. In so doing, it reflects one plausibility in how we co-exist with this paradigm shift.
This is a Creative Practice assisted by AI
Like many other professions, designers and developers today are confronted with AI "taking over their jobs". While creative technologist practitioners have to stay engaged with the cutting edge, there are genuine concerns with losing peer credibility for incorporating AI in our work. Another increasing concern is the growing natural resource consumption as the appetite for AI usage grows.
Slow Things engages with technology, to critique and work with technology, and AI is no exception. It's about balance and rigour on maintaining creative integrity whilst still benefiting and learning from AI-assisted production. At Slow Things, AI tokens are not spent for generating ideas or 'slop'. Perhaps ironically, both ideas and 'slop' remain human-driven domains in this creative practice.
For example, the 'squiggle generator' program (more about this in the slow things brand) that helped build the logo was written with the help of AI to parametrically explore the different variants, weights and styles of stroke lines. The creative decisions and technical know-how to work and fine-tune the generator's features is still a decidedly human-driven. This manner of co-working with AI underscores a new working dynamic we are now encountering across all disciplines. Incidentally, having a logo that is 'generated' parametrically with the assistance of AI reflects the Slow Things model: festina lente (make haste, slowly).
Indeed, the times, they are a-changin', but they always have been, haven't they?