Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Far Out APRIL 26, 2024 - by Joe Taysom

BRIAN ENO BELIEVES ALGORITHMS ARE "COMPLETELY TERRIFYING"

At the screening of Gary Hustwit's new documentary, Eno, pioneering musician Brian Eno explained why algorithms could have "completely terrifying" consequences if they fall into the wrong hands.

Eno was speaking with Hustwit and digital artist Brendan Dawes at the Barbican in London on April 20 following a premiere of the documentary. The film, like everything Eno touches in his career, is richly unique, and no two screenings of Eno will be the same as it cleverly combines original interviews with unreleased footage and music.

Hustwit and Dawes used technology to ensure that sequences and transitions occur in every screening that has never previously been shown. The version of Eno that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January is completely different to the one that was shown in London earlier this month, offering viewers a cinematic experience like no other.

On the one hand, Eno is a demonstration of why technology can be a force for good that is capable of enhancing creativity and artistic endeavours. However, Eno is acutely aware that many aren't using algorithms with the best of intentions, which is a troubling notion for the musician.

He told the audience, which included Far Out, at The Barbican: "Well, one thing that is really, really clear to me is that whoever designs the algorithms, designs the future. And it's completely terrifying to me that the design of those algorithms is, in fact, almost 99 per cent made by a few young Americans who want to make a lot of money. If profitability is the main goal of the design, then we're going to end up with the same kind of shit that we got from social media".

Furthermore, Eno shared an uncomfortable truth about algorithms, which he said are "not neutral" despite what most believe regarding the technology. The former Roxy Music member elaborated: "Algorithms are not transparent, they're not like screwdrivers, or something like that. They have a personality, they have a direction, and encoded in them is a worldview. And if the worldview encoded in them as a sort of libertarian capitalist, individualistic worldview, that's where we will end up. And I'm not being dramatic and saying that we've seen it happen with social media, social media could have run with different algorithms, it could have been a different world."

Eno also portioned blame for the current state of politics across the globe on this technology, claiming if the algorithms were designed differently, this situation could have been avoided. "It could have been a world that didn't automatically promote right wing nationalists and people like Donald Trump and conspiracy theories. That comes out of the system. The system leans that way," he claimed.

"It doesn't have to produce those results, but the likelihood is that it will and I think we really have to understand that the ownership of the algorithms cannot be in the hands of individuals like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg and so on," Eno concluded.

While the dark world of algorithms continues to control our lives through our phone screens, Eno provides a glimmer of hope regarding the possibilities of technology.

Eno is due to be screened in New York, Los Angeles and Seattle next month. The soundtrack for the documentary is out today.