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At first I couldn’t understand why I kept thinking about it. The incident was a fairly minor but odd everyday occurrence. I had organized a night for AI artists and those interested in AI art through Meetup, an online service that invites organizers to put on in-person events and invite members to sign up.
At the event I had three new people, along with a curator for some local art shows where I had exhibited a few AI art pieces. As it turned out, the attendees were just learning about AI art, not AI artists, and one of the attendees, I’ll call him Brad, was especially critical. He kept asking questions or making statements about whether AI creations were truly art and whether the creators of AI art were really artists. After all, he argued, if an individual wrote text to create the art, the program could create whatever it happened to come up with, so any text was merely a suggestion, and the result was really created by the AI program, not the artist.
The curator tried to argue that an AI creation was art by describing his experience as a middle school teacher. He explained that he would suggest some art idea, such as “You live in a large house and have a party for other kids at school, “or “It is Halloween and you are going trick or treating.” Then, the kids would draw a picture, and all the pictures were very different. But he considered all the kids to be artists whatever they drew, much like AI artists gave the AI program suggestions for what to create, and the program executed their suggestions.
But Brad wasn’t buying the analogy. He still had more objections. AI was still the creator, he insisted, not the person giving suggestions. Then, when I showed a few hundred examples of different art pieces I created, I pointed out that I had entered contests with 5000–8000 entrants, who all considered themselves artists, and sometimes I scored in the top 5–20%. But he remained unconvinced.
Finally, at the end of the evening, when I passed around a sign-up sheet, the two other guests quickly entered their contact information. One then showed off some AI cartoons he created on his phone, while the other said she was eager to try out the AI creation programs I suggested. But Brad just waived the sign-up sheet away, looking annoyed to be even given a form for leaving his name and email. Moments later, as I continued to answer questions from the other attendees, he quickly rushed out the door. Later that night, when I saw the online posting for the event, I noticed there was one less sign-up. Brad was no longer listed as attending, and about an hour later, I discovered why — he had removed himself from the group.
So later that night, I began thinking about what happened, and I wondered if I had done anything wrong. Should I have done anything differently? Should I have had better answers to his questions? Should I? Should I?
Later, over the next few days, I noticed that I kept thinking about what happened, replaying the events of that night in my mind. So why, I wondered, did I keep returning to that event, which had been such a minor incident, lasting just a minute for Brad to clearly reject the AI art event, instead of simply leaving after the event.
Then, I thought about how my continually returning to thoughts about what happened reflects the way something unique or unusual captures our attention. When things go smoothly and we engage in everyday activities, we don’t think about things that are routine or ordinary. They are the usual, so we don’t pay them much attention. We just do them and don’t have to think about them, because they are routine and ordinary. But when something unexpected happens, that draws our interest and we pay attention.
The usual is a little like taking a walk in the woods and enjoying the experience. We can feel relaxed, comfortable, energized, or experience other positive emotions. But if something unusual and unexpected occurs, we suddenly notice that, especially if it might signal the possibility of danger, such as a wolf among the trees, or if it might be something upsetting, such as a dead cat on the path. Or if something is especially beautiful or thrilling, like a magnificent bird flying above us, we pay attention, too. Otherwise, if we experience the usual, we keep on walking, enjoying the experience, but otherwise this is not something we pay particular attention to because it is so ordinary and routine.
Thus, unexpected behavior is like that. It stands out from the routine of everyday life, so we wonder about it. Why is it different? Why did it happen? And sometimes, an exception to what we usually experience everyday can be so unusual or jarring that we continue thinking about it. Sometimes that continual recollection and rehashing of the event can bother us, but at times, this repeated thinking about what’s exceptional can contribute to us coming up with an idea for doing something creative. It can stimulate this creative thought, since this unusual experience can be like a message to us to do something different, such as my deciding to write this article about why we might keep thinking about something unusual that happens in our life and what to do about it.
So what should you do if you experience something unusual or unexpected and keep thinking about it? Here are some suggestions.
· Do something else you enjoy in order to stop thinking about it.
· Talk to others for support, if what you keep thinking about is bothering you.
· Turn off the dialogue in your head by turning your attention to something else.
· Consider how whatever you are thinking about might give you an idea for a creative project.
· Think about how whatever you are thinking about might suggest a need to make changes in yourself; then think about those changes, and make them.
In short, when something unusual or unexpected leads you to think about that, think about what you are thinking about. Then, let those thoughts guide you to think about something else, talk to others about your thoughts, distract yourself by paying attention to something else, or use those thoughts as a trigger to create something else or make changes in yourself.
For more information and to set up interviews, contact ALB Games at the information below.
Karen Andrews
Executive Assistant
Changemakers Publishing and Writing
San Ramon, CA 94583
(925) 804–6333