Digital

How to Speak Machine

Technology is a wonderful, truly, magical thing.

Because of its nature, it’s also quite mysterious. We know how to use it, but we don’t know very much about how it really works.

But computation is made by us, and we are collectively responsible for its outcomes; something to be aware of now that computing impacts virtually everyone, and new kinds of interactions with increasingly intelligent devices and surroundings are being more common in a growing digital world.

Therefore, we should have at least a basic understanding of how computing works, to maximize what we can make and be more mindful of how we shape it.

Based on the wonderful book “How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us” by designer and technologist John Maeda, this article is a distillation of key ideas of the first three chapters of the book, that aims to explain (to nontechie people) the properties of computation, which he describes as being “an invisible, alien universe”.

 
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The Three Alien Properties of Computation

1. Machines run loops:

There’s one thing that a computer can do better than any human, animal, or machine in the real world: repetition.

A computer running a program, if left powered up, can sit in a loop and run forever, never losing energy or enthusiasm. It’s a metamechanical machine that never experiences surface friction and is not subject to the forces of gravity like a real mechanical machine—so it runs in complete perfection.

This property is one of the reasons why it’s tricky when tech companies operate computational systems, that never take lunch breaks or vacations and get down to extreme levels of detail, to know everything about you based on your data (especially when you are unaware of how and what exactly is being collected).

Of course, it is also being used positively, to increase comfort and convenience by anticipating needs and automating processes, (which we all benefit from nowadays) making everyday operations seamless and easy.

You may also take advantage of this relentless property to use it in innovative ways, like the Seoul Digital Foundation, which is employing robots to teach older adults to use KakaoTalk, one of South Korea's most popular messaging apps (if you have explained technology applications to your parents or grandparents, you already know it requires a lot of patience and repetition😅).

A Möbius strip, or loop, is a simple object that can be made out of folded paper and reveals surprising properties as you play with it. How to Speak Machine (2019)

A Möbius strip, or loop, is a simple object that can be made out of folded paper and reveals surprising properties as you play with it. How to Speak Machine (2019)

 

2. Machines get large

Exponential growth is native to how the computer works. This is how the amount of computing memory available has evolved. The same can be said about processing power.

So when you hear people in Silicon Valley talk about the future, it’s important to remember that they’re not talking about a future that is incrementally different year after year. They’re constantly on the lookout for exponential leaps
— How to Speak Machine (2019) p. 39

Loops inside loops open new dimensions. In short, it’s a means to open up spaces that are much larger than the ones that surround us as the physical scale of our neighborhoods or cities. There are no limits to how far each dimension can extend, and no limits to how many dimensions can be created with further nesting of loops.

Computation has a unique affinity for infinity; however, you are in complete control when you write the codes and construct the loops to your liking.

“There is a certain comfort as you come to realize that, with eventual ease, you can craft infinitely large systems with also infinitely fine details”. (p.52)

This is unnatural to those of us who live in the analog world, but it’s just another day inside the computational universe. 

A magical aspect of the Koch snowflake, a fractal curve, is that its perimeter is infinite but its area is finite. Image: Matthias, LaTeX Stack Exchange (2017)

A magical aspect of the Koch snowflake, a fractal curve, is that its perimeter is infinite but its area is finite. Image: Matthias, LaTeX Stack Exchange (2017)

 

3. Machines behave like the living (originally stated as machines are living but corrected here)

The traditional approach to creating AI was to teach a computer how to reason through if-then rules. Deep learning (a technique used in machine learning), on the other hand, uses a model of the brain—neural networks in particular—to teach a computer how to think by observing a desired behavior and learning the skill through analyzing repeated behavioral patterns. 

For it to work well, the computer needs to observe our behavior. Preferably constantly and interminably.

This is how we can obtain products like Open AI’s GPT-3, a system released last summer that was trained on a vast corpus of text and that can create text to order that is close to writing created by people, based purely on pattern matching and analysis at massive scale.

OpenAI recently launched DALL·E, a 12-billion parameter version of GPT-3 trained to generate images from text descriptions, using a dataset of text–image pairs. OpenAI website (2021)

OpenAI recently launched DALL·E, a 12-billion parameter version of GPT-3 trained to generate images from text descriptions, using a dataset of text–image pairs. OpenAI website (2021)

 

Computation’s potential for connection, not only allowing them to process massive amounts of information but facilitating machines that connect and collaborate at speeds that fast surpass ours, is another of its outstanding qualities.

 
Inventor and scientist Ray Kurzweil predicted that by 2015 computing power would surpass the brainpower of a mouse, and by 2045 there would be more computing power than all of the human minds combined on earth (p. 96), which makes learning to speak …

Inventor and scientist Ray Kurzweil predicted that by 2015 computing power would surpass the brainpower of a mouse, and by 2045 there would be more computing power than all of the human minds combined on earth (p. 96), which makes learning to speak machine an imperative need.

 
The fact that computers can talk with each other means that they are collectively as smart as the most brilliant computer that they can access.
— How to Speak Machine (2019) p. 93

Similarly, the social networks and tools we have created now connect us to an expanding network of knowledge and possibilities. 

Whether in the real world or the computational world, connecting work is the catalyst for making changes happen at a scale that’s larger than just the doing work that an individual can perform. (p.89)

How can we figure out ways to collaborate and leverage the full power of our collective intelligence, inspired by how computing works? 

I believe too, as Maeda affirmed in the book, that computers won’t replace us if we remain audacious.

We are creative, complex beings that have created (and are continuously creating) marvelous tools with technology and its special computational powers.

It really feels almost magical, although we are getting used to it by now, to be able to connect, learn, teach, communicate with, observe, and in a close future, possibly even feel, locations, people, and objects all around the world.

What a time to be alive.


References:

  1. Maeda, J. (2019) How to Speak Machine. Penguin Publishing Group.


Digital Everything

In a moment where there is no proximity and touch possible as a consequence of measures like physical distancing and nationwide lockdowns, everything suddenly has to be digital. Technology has been expanding to many areas, and one consequence of the pandemic will be the acceleration of digital experiences.

Companies are realizing that the meeting could, in fact, have been an email, and there is probably no going back in many cases. Remote work will most likely increase, but aside from work a whole range of experiences are obliged to turn to digital channels to interact with their audience.

From education to clubbing, theater, and fashion week events are making use of technology to engage with people all over the world. 

Shangai’s Online Fashion Week - Asia Tatler (2020)

Shangai’s Online Fashion Week - Asia Tatler (2020)

How can we then, create digital experiences that are more connected to the physical? How can we be together while far apart? How can we express ourselves, when we are tied to the narrow possibilities of specific tools? And most importantly, how do we evolve those tools to express who we truly are?

Of the many possibilities, some emerging trends that show us an evolution of the digital world:

 

Digital identities:


Digital identity will evolve beyond the current formats of text, voice, and video that connect us today, as 3D avatars emerge to dress, work and play in simulated worlds.

According to WGSN [1], in 2022, lifelike digital avatars – virtual stand-ins that faithfully reproduce facial expressions, gestures, and voice – will allow people to communicate in VR as naturally as they would if they were in the same room. Freed from physical limitations, consumers will embrace multiple identities and move seamlessly between digital subcultures.

Facebook’s Codec Avatar project is working on generating digital doubles for consumers, opening the way for a deeper sense of connection and social presence in VR. 

Codec Avatar - Facebook (2019)

Codec Avatar - Facebook (2019)

The Future Laboratory [2] states that as brands become more entrenched in our social interactions, digital avatar ‘friends’ that are relatable rather than faceless bots will be crucial in formulating a brand personality. 

Samsung’s Neon avatars, for instance, are designed to be ‘friends’ with humans, with realistic characters powered by AI. 

Neon Life avatars - Samsung (2020)

Neon Life avatars - Samsung (2020)

In the near future, one will be able to license or subscribe to a Neon as a service representative, financial adviser, healthcare provider or concierge.

Neons will work as tv anchors, spokespeople or movie actors, or they can simply be companions and friends showing the potential of brands to be the voice of these personal relationships.’

— Pranav Mistry, CEO of Samsung Star Labs (2019)
 

Digital retail:


AR and VR is predicted to soar to a $571.42 billion market by 2025 [3], as consumers accept these technologies as the new normal. As Covid-19 traps people in their homes, this tech is set to accelerate in a post-corona world.

Obsess is an AR and VR shopping platform that allows brands to create immersive shopping experiences that can be enjoyed in combination with physical spaces. In the wake of Covid-19 it's now inviting retailers to launch their own virtual spaces.

While it's not yet possible for shoppers to experience these virtual stores together in a digital realm, this type of social shopping experience is not so far fetched. Facebook Horizon is a new VR social platform with an interactive user journey that connects real-world peers on a third platform. While it's still in beta, it may facilitate users to virtually shop with peers in real time, despite being physically apart [4].

Obsess - Courtesy of Obsess (2019)

Obsess - Courtesy of Obsess (2019)

 

Digital materiality:


Materials and objects built and maintained outside of the physical world will clothe and contextualize our digital identities, through digital fashion and interiors.

This shift will see the rise of a new era of digital craftsmanship, led by artisans of the virtual world.

In May 2019, Amsterdam-based digital-only fashion house The Fabricant sold the world’s first digital couture dress for $9,500 via a blockchain, envisioning a future where fashion transcends the physical.

Iridescende Digi-Couture Dress sold for $9500 - The Fabricant (2019)

Iridescende Digi-Couture Dress sold for $9500 - The Fabricant (2019)

The surge of digital clothing and interior collections could appear as a more sustainable alternative and expand the possibilities of expression, considering the reduced material resources and waste, and the freedom of not having to obey the same laws that dictate the physical world. 

These could be of use especially in situations where the objects are used only once and then most likely discarded, like photo shoots and events (being an even further example of how some things could actually exist only for the photograph). 

 

Digital collaboration:

Technological products will continue to evolve the way we work together.

Spatial is an AR and VR collective computing platform transforming how workers create and collaborate remotely, using 3D avatars.

“We’re not [currently] able to transmit touch and muscle movement through the internet, but we will with the low latency capabilities of 5G,” says Mischa Dohler, a professor of wireless communications at King’s College London. His Internet of Skills project [5] predicts using 5G for seamless remote global collaboration – for example, an employee wearing a haptic suit could manipulate a robot to manufacture or inspect a product in real time, continents apart. 

So not only design, which already happens remotely with teams collaborating from different areas of the world, but the manufacturing of products could include artisans and experts from different locations.

Roomone (2019)

Roomone (2019)

If we could remotely transmit tactile (and multisensory) inputs through technological devices perhaps we could dream of actually grasping objects, spaces, and people, no matter where they are. It changes everything.

Virtual worlds will be a key outlet for consumer creativity and expression, and the birthplace of aesthetic trends and subcultures. They will—continue to—change and expand the way we connect and portray ourselves.

But how do we want this to move forward? What kind of phygital future would we want to create?

Now is the time to design it (instead of letting it evolve into an ugly Black Mirror episode where we didn’t have a say in), by redefining what is possible and taking advantage of technology to serve the of what it means to be human.


References:

  1. WGSN. (2019) Future Innovations 2022.

  2. The Future Laboratory (2020) The Transformative Twenties.

  3. Valuates Report (2019) Augmented and Virtual Reality Market by Organization Size: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018 - 2025.

  4. WGSN. (2020) Social Media Commerce 2020.

  5. Dohler, M. et al. (2017) Internet of skills, where robotics meets AI, 5G and the Tactile Internet


One Secret to Boost Your Digital Illustration Workflow

One Secret to Boost Your Digital Illustration Workflow

One aspect that is fundamental for our process is to continually improve the workflow. Since this is a space for exploration and sharing, I would like to comment on a recent discovery in my learning path on illustration. As an extension of my interest in drawing, I have been immersing in digital paint and I know some of you that are on this journey too, so I wanted to communicate a find I have found very useful for myself.

As I have mentioned before, artists like filmmaker Kirby Ferguson consider one of the basic elements of creativity is copying and naturally, this happens with drawing as well. Even though you are not going to create an exact copy of another image (or perhaps you want to as a practice), it is natural to the process to create from existing references.  

Precisely, one of my top recent discoveries was an awesome tool for reference materials: PureRef

This was just to cool to keep to myself!