It’s not that often we live in times that can be seen as significant while they’re actually happening, without having to wait for the benefit of hindsight. Nevertheless, it seems that 2023 is one we’ll look back on in the future and regard as pivotal.

How AI has developed since 2022 is something everyone in the digital world I know has been talking about for months. Today, the headline news is that Geoffrey Hinton, an acknowledged AI expert, has quit Google and regrets his work in the field, saying AI may soon be more intelligent than humans.

This is an existential step change. The launch of ChatGPT4, just one month ago, seems to have confirmed that humans do now co-exist with a form of artificial intelligence rapidly becoming superior to our own.

What has all this got to do with ceramics? Contrary to AI, clay’s a material that couldn’t be more elemental and primitive. Well, as we hurtle along towards this scenario, it's worth considering how making things from clay can be a valuable metaphor and example of how we can thrive in this context.

Ceramics and AI both have a computational DNA. AI has developed through algorithmic recipes, while ceramics is made up of a vast range of variables including the raw materials, glaze formulations, kiln temperature and maker's skill. Ceramics is an algorithm and we can use this knowledge to approach crafting our future while coexisting with AI.

We need to consciously understand the elements behind AI in the same way that a potter understands the elements within ceramics. By doing so, we can begin to craft a future with AI where we coexist with it, rather than be subordinated by it. The development of ceramic practice across the ages is a great parallel to think about how we can best approach coexistence with AI in the years ahead.

Crafting in general, and ceramics in particular, are areas of human endeavour that can teach us about working with AI to enhance humanity. Where we were once potters working with clay to create utilitarian items that enriched our practical lives, we are also now makers of the future living in a digital civilization.

For me, understanding ceramics is an area of great excitement and satisfaction in itself; it’s also a way to figure out how we can work with the algorithms that will increasingly influence and shape us, and the lives we lead, as digital humans.

This post was written by me and refined with the help of ChatGPT .