Alexandra Marshall\u2019s most recent book is \u201cThe Silence of Your Name: The Afterlife of a Suicide,\u201d a memoir.<\/p>\n
Regie Gibson now serves as the inaugural poet laureate of Massachusetts, but I first learned about him nearly 30 years ago when his title was US National Poetry Slam champion and he participated in a panel discussion called \u201cThe Music Connection from Homer to Hip-Hop.\u201d Gibson characterized hip-hop moguls with a provocative statement that I\u2019ll borrow in characterizing today\u2019s AI masterminds. <\/p>\n
During the panel, Gibson traced the development of hip-hop through its three initial phases: the graffiti spray-painted by adolescent trespassers into the train yards of the New York City subway system; the breakdancers encircled by pick-up crowds on city sidewalks; and the home party music where rappers rhymed their own stories and DJs mixed sound. He said the shift occurred when the hip-hop stars became entrepreneurs who \u201ccommodified\u201d those noncommercial art forms by turning rhymes into recordings and clothing styles into merchandise. Referring to the open gunplay and misogynist violence they modeled, Gibson declared, \u201cI don\u2019t believe in making millionaires out of sociopaths who can rhyme.\u201d <\/p>\n
I recall his words because I think they have a contemporary application regarding the AI tycoons who systematically commodify the creativity of the arts and sciences without restraint or regard for the consequences. Because, similarly, I don\u2019t believe in making billionaires out of sociopaths who can code. <\/p>\n
Before code was turned from a noun into a verb, there was code, intrinsically defined by strict regulation as a code of law, a code of ethics. Speaking or writing in code can permit the concealment of meaning, one famous example being the Native American soldiers in World War II whose languages safely communicated military secrets. Virtues can also be codified as prohibitions, as in the Ten Commandments, the laws and ethics \u2014 the rules governing behavior \u2014 that are generally considered fundamental to civilization. The commodification of creativity violates the Eighth Commandment: You shall not steal. <\/p>\n
Back in the day, thanks to the consistently updated reference guide \u201cBartlett\u2019s Familiar Quotations,\u201d<\/a> we took for granted that quotes were by definition attributable. Sure, old-style politicians and dinner speakers everywhere routinely cut that corner by prefacing a line of poetry with \u201cAs the poet said \u2026\u201d \u2014 condensing all the uncredited poets into one \u2014 but, mostly, a conspicuous effort was made not to plagiarize. Those who do risk punishment for intellectual property theft, with legislation to define what that means. Nevertheless, in today\u2019s world, flagrant disregard of commonly accepted behavior combines \u201cBecause I can!\u201d with the \u201cSo, sue me!\u201d attitude modeled by the White House in threats that seem both spontaneous and premeditated. And because the president immunizes others with his own immunity, the AI billionaire sociopaths are granted permission to steal. <\/p>\n