“You mentioned before that you used to work in food delivery. You also told me a lot about the job.

 

From your description, food delivery is a system where AI matches those who order meals and the like with those who deliver them. When someone places an order on a device, the delivery side is notified and they assess whether to take on the delivery. If they decide to deliver, they accept the order, pick up the items from providers (such as restaurants), and then deliver them to the person who placed the order. That's basically the gist of it, right?

 

You mentioned you worked this job for about a year and that during that time, you kept your Google Account's Location History turned on and checked your movement distance on Google Maps. You also said that all delivery data, along with map information, is stored in the food delivery app. Hearing this, I had a fascinating idea. Possibly, using this system and data, we could create a new kind of artwork.

 

The tools (art supplies) for creating this are the data stored in the food delivery app, as well as Google Maps.

 

First, we'll trace back through stored data in the app, extracting all delivery records. But, what we'll extract is only the segment from when the delivery person accepts the order to when they complete the delivery. This segment is the part where the delivery person isn't acting entirely on their own volition.

 

I'll explain it in detail.

 

①Leave the house intending to do food delivery.

②Launch the app.

③The app is notified of the order.

④Accept the order if deciding to deliver.

⑤Head to the place where the food or other items are provided.

⑥Pick up the order and head to the delivery destination.

⑦Deliver the order to the person who ordered.

⑧Move in preparation for the next order.

 

You mentioned that the flow of a food delivery job, roughly speaking, is repeating steps ① to ⑧(③ to ⑧). In this process, actions from ① to ④ and ⑧ can be said to be carried out by your own volition. However, for actions from ⑤ to ⑦, isn't it hard to say they are entirely carried out by your own volition?

 

Of course, your volition also exists in actions ⑤, ⑥, and ⑦. It's not as if you're acting unconsciously. But, without the AI assigning that task and guiding the delivery process, you wouldn't have headed to the place where the food or other items are provided, picked up the order, or delivered it to the person who ordered.

 

In other words, couldn't we say that actions ⑤, ⑥, and ⑦ are driven not by the human's (delivery person's) volition, but rather, in a sense, by the AI's volition?

 

In this artwork, we will utilize the data from the delivery records of these sections ⑤, ⑥, and ⑦. Within a Google account, by selecting ‘Location History’ from ‘Data and privacy’ and entering the data for sections ⑤, ⑥, and ⑦ (the dates and times from the moment the order is accepted until its completion) into the timeline displayed for managing the history, we can display the movement data for that segment.

 

Then, on the map, the movement data for sections ⑤, ⑥, and ⑦ will be displayed as a blue line. This blue line, so to speak, could be said to represent the segments where humans were moved not by their own volition, but by the volition of AI. I believe that if we extract all the delivery data for sections ⑤, ⑥, and ⑦ and reflect them on Google Maps, blue line drawings representing about a year will be depicted in your case.

 

However, it might not be possible to reflect everything on Google Maps. In that case, we'd need to use image editing software and the like, and manually draw the lines on a self-made map.

 

In any case, wouldn't the countless blue lines (line drawings) depicted there, depending on one's perspective, be said to be a vast artwork where AI has used humans to draw, treating the map (the ground) as its canvas?

 

In this artwork, the existence of humans is that of tools (art supplies) utilized by AI.

 

If we trace back through the data for sections ⑤, ⑥, and ⑦, and capture screenshots of the screen as the blue lines are sequentially drawn on the map, by connecting these frames one by one, a video would emerge. This video captures the evolving strokes as the artwork is gradually drawn, with the AI acting as an artist, using humans to draw stroke by stroke, until the artwork is completed.

 

The world is currently in the dawn or developmental phase of AI. As a result, various innovations utilizing AI are being developed, leading to significant changes and sparking numerous discussions.

 

In the field of art as well, various AI tools are being developed, and a multitude of works are being created using them. The key here is ‘how well humans can utilize AI’.

 

I believe there is significance in representing this artwork in such a current age. That's because, in an era where many people utilize AI for expression, this piece is the first artwork where AI uses humans for expression.

 

In the first place, the common understanding in today's world is that humans use and control AI. In other words, people assume that in this master-servant relationship, humans are the master and AI the servant. But, I don't see it that way. That's because, already at this point, our actions are significantly influenced by AI, and one could say that many aspects of our lives are controlled by it.

 

Extracting expressions where AI uses humans and presenting them as artwork is just new, but in reality, such occurrences are already commonplace in our daily lives.

 

Specifically, within various platforms such as video and music streaming services, online shopping, social media, and online advertisements, AI exists, and humans are unknowingly made to follow it. And from now on, its presence is set to increase even more.

 

In the upcoming future, as this influence expands, there might come a time when many people become aware of it. When tracing back from that future, I believe this artwork holds value for its existence right here and now.

 

What's important for this artwork is that the delivery person has no intention of creating it. As long as there's any consciousness in the delivery person to create this artwork, it won't be realized. This is because once that intent exists, it becomes an artwork of human creation, and the concept of ‘AI using humans to draw’ no longer holds true.

 

Therefore, this artwork must be created from the remaining results (data) of people like you who have done jobs such as food delivery in the past.”