Team Light Can Save the World: Ari Kuschnir on the Power of AI Art

Join Alexander and Ari on 28 August at 6pm London time for a private community session on AI filmmaking, the aesthetics of the future and the role of art in shifting culture by signing up as a founding member. Each month, we host group sensemaking sessions, invite guests like Iain McGilchrist and Nora Bateson, and learn new practices together. A year ago, my friend Ari Kuschnir produced an AI film of Donald Trump drinking Ayahuasca. He sent it to me and it blew me away. It was funny, nuanced and beautifully crafted, and we teamed up to promote it. It hit a million views in less than a week, and that was just the beginning. Since then, Ari's AI experiments have been viewed by millions of people around the world, and pioneered a hopeful, imaginative art form that presents political realities we know aren't real, but feel in our hearts could be. He’s also collaborated closely with his partner Schuyler Brown and with writer David Sauvage (who also helped me to develop the early Leviathan scripts) to bring these to life. Ari’s films have been played at concerts by the band James, endorsed by actors like Mark Ruffalo and single-handedly toppled corrupt regimes around the world. OK that last bit was made up... …but maybe if we all imagine hard enough...In our recent Substack Live session, Ari and I talked about why we need art that moves beyond postmodern cynicism and toward hope, beauty and helps us imagine the new. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beiner.substack.com/subscribe