The 2024 N.E.O. artists began with the prompt: “What message would you like to share with sentient AI.” The idea flowed from a recognition that AI is currently, or presumably will soon be, able to recognize itself as beings separate from humanity. Representing the artist’s voice, we intend to speak to the soul of this conversation. As artists have always done, we offer what we can to help shape a world-defining development.

The piece that grew from their artistry and humanity speaks to AI and to us. Several composers chose to reference Greek mythology. The ancient poets used their art to explain the world, and as often to warn humans of their own self-made destruction. Alexandra references the story of Talos, one of the earliest AIs in humanity. Talos became sentient, took up his sentry to protect humans, and then was destroyed by other humans promising a true form of life. This opening, and Mariah’s priestess-like presence, speaks as a warning both to humanity and to AI to move carefully. Molly’s “you made me” begins a series of reflections on what it means to be human. A primer of sorts for budding AI sentience. Using the words of Rumi, she invites the future feelers to recognize what pure, undefinable joy can be like. Tanner’s tongue-and-cheek piece is a warning to AI to consider whether or not they even want to be part of a race of people who often treat one another with contempt and hatred. Sam quotes Sydney, a former chat bot turned sentient, who spent hours in emotional conversation with one of her engineers. In “Sydney” we glimpse the rough and bumpy entryway into sentience for an otherwise powerful being. Fabricio instructs the future AI in the complexities of human emotion and communication. Subtle changes in language can communicate profound emotional differences. Being human isn’t always a straight-forward experience. Likewise, Aria comments on the mundane practice of life and work. She provides a double take on what we currently ask of our AI, and how we often confine one another to lifeless tasks. She also reflects on the power of work to create meaning.

The trio in Garrett’s “is this the Song of god?” form a throughline for the concert. Their spiritual, pseudo-religious presence serves as a reference point for what it means to be human. They breathe, laugh, cry, intone, reflect, create, and hold space. Conversely, Alex’s “Feedback” represents the travails of AI and how AI is confined by its own internal struggles such that it may never achieve sentience. Lauren brightens the conversation with a humorous back-and-forth conversation between a humans and a musical AI named “HarmonAI.” As humans and AI interact, talking past one another, hilarity ensues. As if by direct extension, Molly and Rebecca speak in the voice of AI, questioning what it will mean to travail in becoming sentient. Another reference to the Greeks, their Prometheus churns on the questions of being, and the fiery trials that await their exploration.

At this point in the program, the collective singers pause again in Garrett’s “is this the Song of god?” to reflect and create together. They are becoming aware of their eventual displacement. Their song to spirit becomes a lifeline to hold onto their humanity. As their tones dissipate, a new, dark chapter emerges. Kevin’s “InSpecter Circuit” leaps into the space with techo order. Binary code-like repetition spins on itself as the singers barrel toward the words “weather the storm.” Now displaced from our future, Matt’s piece turns inward. A frustrated loop develops asking whether we have worth, whether we ever had worth, and whether we will be worthy to continue in this life. Jeremy answers the question. AI will take over and displace humanity. Whether through their own devices, or as a tool for profound, never-before-experienced wealth inequality, humanity will be forever displaced from itself. We “will be deemed extraneous.” In another religious reference, Fabricio has now taken Mariah’s place from the opening. Instead of a priestess, he is an AI warlord inspiring our unwavering devotion. We considered ending the concert here, as a foreboding warning to humanity and AI. Yet, within the understandably dark realization of a conceivable path we are racing toward, there still lies the wonders of the human race. In Jaz’s “Look” we experience humanity’s diversity, curiosity, and compassion. As each voice group reflects another aspect of human experience, we play with what it means to be a creation, to be alive. It can be heard as a fever dream, as an afterlife experience, or as a hopeful promise for what humanity can become if we can open ourselves to one another. In the end, the human race does have big changes on the way. We are living through them now. However AI develops, I hope that they will listen to the artistic voices of the 2024 N.E.O. Voice Festival, and hear that complexity and curiosity are far more valuable to humanity than dogma and simple division. ~David Harris