CARIFESTA XV’s Big Conversations tackle A.I.

The focus of one of the Big Conversations of CARIFESTA XV was the provocative - “A.I. Can’t Tek Wi Riddim.”  It was a discussion moderated by Panellist Sonja Dumas, the founder and artistic director of Continuum Dance Project out of Trinidad and Tobago with participation by, John Hunte, Executive Director of Barbados Dance Project Inc., and Akuzuru, a contemporary artist also from the twin-island republic.

The panel examined the relationship between A.I. and Caribbean culture beginning with a reading by Akuzuru of a Makeda Thomas performance text. Thomas is the director of the Dance & Performance Institute for Trinidad and Tobago. “Artificial Intelligence, but here in the Caribbean, intelligence has always been riddim, has always been drum, has always been dance.”

The text continued with “Artificial intelligence (A.I.) arrived late to a conversation our bodies have been having for centuries,” to which Sonja Dumas added, “Not only can A.I. not tek we riddim, A.I. don’t know we riddim to take it.”

The panel agreed that our culture, … is far from being artificial. A.I. cannot understand our minds, dances, or our voices better than we can. Even if it is programmed to know our culture, we still know our culture better just by experiencing it.

Akuzuru agrees that “Experience is what shapes you, what sculpts you, what sculpts your thinking and sculpts the mind.” Indeed, she said, “the main issue with A.I. is that people will lose out on experience.” 

Meanwhile, the reading concluded, “A.I. can archive the body, but it cannot contain the vibration. A.I. can flatten the image, but it cannot touch the soul. A.I. can circulate the clip, but it cannot dance the road. A.I. Can't Tek Wi Riddim.”

CARIFESTA XV is proof that our culture is something that A.I. cannot take from us.

The discussion took place at the Marcus Garvey Amphitheater in Queens Park, St. Michael.

Written by:

Victoria Boyce

Youth Correspondent - CARIFESTA XV