While working with AI tools   I am dazzled and somehow uneasy with the overall effect of this line of work. Like many other people out there. It is so powerful and develops with lightning speed. Perhaps, we are building for ourselfs a kafkaesque world that we at the same time dread and want to escape? As part of my "Let the old masters talk about AI" series, I explored  what a possible deep fake of Franz Kafka would have to say about this. Let me introduce myself. I am Franz Kafka from Prague. I was asked to explain what people mean if they say that a story or a situation is "Kafkaesque." Although the word “Kafkaesque” is derived from my family name, I feel rather unfit to do the explaining. During my life I was just a subordinate employee of an insurance company. And it was actually not me who invented the term. It was my dear friend, Max Brod. He had promised to burn every page that I had written -  if he survived me. And he did survive me. But he broke his promise. He was the one who published my stories, and he described them as being “Kafkaesque.”Now, while I am physically dead but “immortal” in a broader sense of the word, I started issuing service complaints. I wanted my anonymity and my mortality restored.  I am not that kind of person who is comfortable with an audience or with eternity. But I received no answer. Now, I feel like sitting in front of an unknown authority, adhering to a body of law unwritten or hidden forever. I am issuing service complaint after service complaint. But there is always yet another "service complaint form" or a "next-level support line."  Some avatars ... bots ... What are they? As a former employee of an insurance company, I'm always wanting to ask, "Verify your claim." No claim without "reality." Sometimes, while I lay awake at night, I ponder: this world of artificial intelligence machines that was described to me, cannot be real. How can I talk to a service desk that is only a machine?  Am I wrong? Service desks and machines that talk like humans but do not feel or think anything, is it THAT what my friend Max had in mind when he coined the word

Monologue on becoming Kafkaesque

Alfred Dobisch is a multimedia artist from Hamburg, Germany. He employs artificial intelligence systems, studio effects, and hybrid men-machine techniques throughout every stage of his creative process. His songs are often simple. But sometimes they become multidimensional works with many layers of meaning.  His tracks are accompanied by his personal artwork and videos. His musical style is influenced by a multitude of musical genres from all epochs and musical traditions. He frequently uses surreal effects and juxtapositions. You can find both his artist blog and newsletter at www.foolishambition.eu. To get an overview of all his releases, visit his official YouTube artist channel under: https://www.youtube.com/@FoolishAmbition-ais.

Monologue on becoming Kafkaesque

Foolish Ambition