AI, Witchcraft and the Occult

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” —Arthur C. Clarke.

AI is a bit like witchcraft, particularly visual generative AI. Prompt writing is a form of conjuring, they work like spells, carefully worded instructions designed to bring about a desired intent. At the press of the return button, these text commands are cast. Presto! Abracadabra! One can never be quite sure about what comes next. There’s a moment of uncertainty followed by anticipation as the generated results emerge from a blurry cloud of static and come into focus.

The quote by Arthur C. Clarke alludes to the idea of “technological wizardry”. One of the spookiest things about AI is that “how it works” isn’t entirely clear, even to those who are designing it. There’s an understanding of the basic principles and building blocks, but the full extent of how these complex systems arrive at their outputs remains largely unknown. When I imagine what the  inner workings of these technologies might look like one picture that emerges is a massive factory with thousands of rows of witches, each standing before a cauldron, stirring away while muttering incantations. How else could it work?

I recently rewatched the “sorcerer’s apprentice” scene from the Disney film Fantasia. Micky Mouse, in the role of apprentice attempts to use his master’s magic to do his chores. Borrowing the sorcerer’s hat and wand, Mickey begins mimicking how he’s seen his master perform. As the magic begins to work he becomes mad with power and overcome by a sense of grandiosity. A broom is brought to life and begins fetching pails of water to fill the cauldron. Exhausted, Mickey falls asleep and the broom continues on with its task. Left to do his bidding, it relentlessly works and the workshop begins to fill with water. Startled awake, Mikey tries to destroy the runaway broom with an axe but the splintered wood reforms into an army of brooms with buckets that continue to flood the space. The wizard, alerted the situation, returns to set things right and chastise his apprentice. Is there any better or more succinct story about uncontrollable and misused power that goes terribly wrong?

As with magic, there is a sense that great and marvelous things might be possible with AI, not to mention the promise of vast riches to those who can harness its power. On the other hand, there’s a dreaded fear that these technologies just might bring about the destruction of mankind. The trepidation is warranted. After all, the history of technology is a history of unintended consequences and unanticipated outcomes. If there’s one thing we can be certain of its that our ability to see the future and predict the impact of technological disruption is abysmal. No one has a crystal ball and no one ever gets it right.