What does a polka-dotted alien rock duo teach us about AI?

Yeah, it’s a weird question – and no, there’s no punchline. Stick with me here, because there’s an actual point I’m making with this – let me give you a bit of background:

Angine de Poitrine is a Canadian rock duo who cover (and I really do mean cover) themselves in black and white polka dots, wear extravagant papier-mache masks, and play the most insane music you’ve ever heard.

They use obscure timings, microtonal instruments (there’s notes in between the notes that don’t sound wrong, but don’t really sound right either), and layer guitars and bass to create lunatic melodies that sound great and awful at the same time.

A person with a musical mind would tell you they like it because the level of talent needed to write and play such music is phenomenal – others will tell you they like it because incomparable to anything else. And there’s also those who would tell you it’s like being inside a washing machine spinning at full speed.

It’s bonkers, but it’s human. So unbelievably human. Never in a million years could an AI model pull off something so eclectic, because AI can only deal in absolutes: something is right, or something is wrong. Nothing in between.

AI is getting good at a lot of things, but it also has a fingerprint that can be spotted from a mile away, which acts as a big psychological red flag to a lot of people.

On the other hand, something that’s very clearly human-made – which acts as a big psychological green flag that draws people in. As humans, we cling to other things that are human.

So, I remember saying something about having a point I’m trying to make here, which is this: If you’re using AI, and not getting the results you want – don’t be over-reliant on AI. Make it human.