Nashua, N.H., has put out some of those Big Belly solar trash cans onto the street; they compact the trash to reduce the amount of times staff has to empty them.
Paul Shea, a member of the Nashua Board of Public Works who has long been active in the city, put up a Facebook post (here it is) pointing out that the artwork on the cans is obviously generated by A.I. (which he writes as “Ai”, an interesting choice). He’s not entirely happy.
I may be wrong, but so far as I have found, we may very well be the first to include an Ai generated graphic in a project for ongoing display.
We celebrate our artists, and are fortunate to have so many here in the city and region, who create, inspire, and reflect the human experience, and our vibrant shared life. They do meaningful work, and in my view – should be included in City projects whenever possible. I would support policy to ensure that happens moving forward,
Ai is an emerging tool, and it has its uses and drawbacks. It can be useful in gathering information, exploring ideas, and finding inspiration. Over time it can help us with efficiencies, and we hope – be part of a bigger solution to improve quality of life for everyone. Art, poetry, music, philosophy – these are things a computer can only emulate. What do we gain by handing these areas over to Ai?
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