AI Overwhelmed by the “Artificial”

Having previously established that the better part of my career involved artificial intelligence (AI) research, I have to say that I was delighted with today’s appearance on the SFGATE Web site of an article by columnist Drew Magary entitled “The time has come to declare war on AI.” Many of my generation first learned about AI through the book Computers and Thought, edited by Edward A. Feigenbaum and Julian Feldman. It would be fair to say that the “birth” of AI can be attributed to Alan Turing; and the play about him, Breaking the Code (adapted into a film for television), included a scene in which Turing takes his first stab at what it would take to build a “thinking machine.”

Over the last decade, I have encountered “name-dropping” of AI in many more settings than I had encountered during my professional years. At the risk of sounding too brutal, I would guess that none of those name-droppers would be able to grasp any single paragraph that Turing ever wrote (or, for that matter, any single sentence)! Instead, the term itself has devolved into accounting for an abundance of software that may or may not work (assuming that it had a specific objective in the first place).

To put the situation in a somewhat more vivid light, I would draw upon William Shakespeare. Over the last decade, artificial intelligence has been “untimely ripped” from the domain of serious (and sometimes tedious) practices of research and thrust into the mercenary side of development and marketing. Indeed, the questions of whether or not there is any utility value is dwarfed by the number of people that can be convinced to buy.

Personally, I like to remind readers of words by Smedley Butler written in a different context:

WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

When commercial interests promote artificial intelligence with more attention to profits than to achievements, it would be fair to say that their enterprise is just as much of a racket. The thing about rackets, though, is that they create so much noise that signals can no longer be perceived, let alone understood. Perhaps those of my generation are now experiencing the death of artificial intelligence (at least as it was first conceived); and we even know what to put on the tombstone: “Signal Overcome by Noise!”

“Holly, Jolly Christmas” Coming to the Cadillac

Vocalist Kathy Holly (from her Musicians Union Web page)

Last year the Holiday Spirit at the Cadillac Hotel got under way at the end of November. This year’s program, Holly, Jolly Christmas Show will take place a little less than a week before Christmas Eve. Kathy Holly will share vocals with songwriter Tom Stafford, performing with an instrumental combo whose members will be Kevin Fagan (guitar), Sandy Bailey (bass and ukulele), John Steiner (piano), and Bob Blankenship (drums).

As usual, this show will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, December 19. The Cadillac Hotel is located at 380 Eddy Street, on the northeast corner of Leavenworth Street. The lobby features the Patricia Walkup Memorial Piano, which will be Steiner’s instrument. It is a meticulously restored 1884 Model D Steinway concert grand, whose original soundboard is still intact. All Concerts at the Cadillac events are presented without charge. The purpose of the series is to provide high-quality music to the residents of the hotel and the Tenderloin District; but all are invited to visit the venue that calls itself “The House of Welcome Since 1907.”

Watching a 3D Documentary on Television

Screenshot of a frame from Cunningham showing two contemporary dancers performing Cunningham’s “Summerspace” (from the IMDb Web page for the film)

This afternoon I used my HBO Max service to watch the 2019 documentary Cunningham. By way of disclaimer, I should note that, as a graduate student, I became “hooked” on the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) as the result of an “accident.” In the summer of 1969, I followed my doctoral thesis advisor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) when he spent the summer at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I served as his teaching assistant, but my principal duty was to take notes for all of his lectures. This was a straightforward undertaking, but it left me with a lot of spare time.

Fortunately, on my first day of personal wandering, I discovered that John Cage was on the campus; and he had put up an announcement for those wishing to attend a “Music and Mushrooms” seminar. Cage, in turn, was the Music Director for MCDC, which was also on the Boulder campus. They were there in preparation for performing in Mexico City. They chose Boulder for its altitude, so they could get their lungs in shape for the higher altitude in Mexico.

Cage’s seminar turned out to be one of driving into the woods and then letting things happen. Since it was a dry summer, very few mushrooms were encountered. However, through Cage, I got to know the other musicians performing with MCDC, David Tudor and Gordon Mumma. I saw two complete (and different) programs performed that summer, and I was hooked. So much so that, when MIT declared January to be a “do whatever pleases you” month for all graduate students, I drove down to New York and watched a full Cunningham season at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

I kept a day-by-day diary of every program that I saw. That then found its way into an article in Ballet Review (Volume iii, issue 3). None of this went down very well with my thesis advisor. However, I was “rescued” through the time I was spending at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, where Marvin Minsky helped me find a way to write a doctoral dissertation that was as much about music as it was about parallel processing (an approach to digital computing which, at that time, was in it infancy).

All of these past experiences came back to me as I watch Cunningham. Even the way in which the film, directed by Alla Kovgan, was sequenced seemed to emerge as its own unique approach to parallel processing! Ironically, the documentary was originally created with 3D technology. While I never had the opportunity to see it that way, I knew enough about the “source material” that my mind could add the “third dimension” to just about everything I saw. Indeed, to be fair, Kovgan’s film used that third dimension relatively sparingly, since the lion’s share of the content involved archival footage, much of which filled me with more nostalgia than I anticipated.

I grant that, for those unfamiliar with the Cunningham choreography in the documentary, the “third dimension” would clarify Cunningham’s own “three dimensional” approach to the dances he created. The good news was that most of those dances were already burned into my memory, thanks to the many performances I was fortunate enough to attend. I just had to substitute the dancers I saw on television with those I remembered from the past performances I had attended and documented! Mind you, I would not pass up an opportunity to experience Kovgan’s 3D intentions; but I would not be surprised if that opportunity never arose!

Violinist Nancy Zhou will Begin New Year at SFCM

Violinist Nancy Zhou and pianist Jeffrey Kahane (from the SFCM Web page for their recital)

The first recitalist to begin the new year with the next Faculty Artist Series at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) will be violinist Nancy Zhou. She will be accompanied at the piano by Jeffrey Kahane. She has prepared an imaginative program reflecting on two different aspects of music history.

The first half of the program will be a Brahms-Schumann coupling, but not the one that most readers will expect! The opening selection will be Johannes Brahms’ Opus 78, his first violin sonata in G major. This will be followed by the second of the three romances (Allegretto) for violin and piano collected by Clara Schumann for her Opus 22. The second half of the program may amount to a “call and response” program. It will begin with the BWV 1016 sonata in E major for violin with keyboard accompaniment by Johann Sebastian Bach. This will be followed by Ferruccio Busoni’s Opus 36a, his second violin sonata in E minor.

This performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, January 26. The venue will be the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, located near the entrance to the SFCM building at 50 Oak Street, a short walk from the Van Ness Muni station. Tickets may be reserved from the event page for this concert. That Web page also includes a hyperlink for live-stream viewing (and listening).

J’Nai Bridges Cancels SFP Recital

Yesterday San Francisco Performances (SFP) announced that mezzo J’Nai Bridges had cancelled her performance with both pianist Terrence Wilson and the members of the Catalyst Quartet. Some readers may recall that they were scheduled to visit Herbst Theatre on March 19 as part of this season’s SFP Art of Song Series. The reason given for the cancellation was a scheduling conflict.

The options for those holding tickets for this event are the same as those for previous cancellations:

• Apply the value of the tickets towards another single performance in the current season.
• Convert the value of the ticket purchase into a tax-deductible donation to SFP.
• Request a full refund.

Patrons may contact SFP regarding their chosen option either through electronic mail to tickets@sfperformances.org or by telephoning 415-677-0325. For those wishing to phone, SFP business hours are between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Pop Singer Goes After President

 Sabrina Carpenter (photograph by Jordan Strauss: Invision/AP Photo, from the Al Jazeera Web page for the article being discussed)

Apparently, the President has to worry about more than discontent on the Legislative side. Now he has to worry about pop singer Sabrina Carpenter as well. This morning Al Jazeera reported on the bone she has to pick with Donald Trump:

Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter and the publisher of the beloved children’s character Franklin the Turtle have disavowed US President Donald Trump’s administration’s use of their music and imagery to support its agenda.

I would hazard the guess that the concept of “copyright” is not in the President's working vocabulary. Perhaps it is time for the Oath of Office to be updated to include a more specific “RTFI” clause pertaining to the “instructions” specified in the Constitution!

A Profile in Courage

What motivated Ilhan Omar to denounce Donald Trump  (from AlJazeera video)

I fear that there will not be many readers that recognize the source for the above title. Nevertheless, the principle remains, even when many of us fear that is being disabled. The good news is that, while there are few, if any, signs of it in the Executive Branch, there is still hope on the Legislative side:

https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2025/12/3/ilhan-omar-denounces-trumps-degrading-tirade-against-us-somali-community

As my generation used to say, “Keep the faith!” 

Three Programs Remain in Volti’s 47th Season

Some readers may recall that Volti began its latest season about a month ago with its Sound & Transformation program at the Noe Valley Ministry on November 7. This morning’s electronic mail brought an announcement of the remaining three programs, each of which will involve a different partnership. All of the San Francisco performances will take place in the spring as follows:

Composer Chris Castro (from the LCCE Web page for Sound Stories)

Friday, March 20, 7:30 p.m., Noe Valley Ministry: Volti will share a program entitled Sound Stories with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE). The program will begin with the world premiere of “Babel,” composed by Chris Castro for narrator and instrumental ensemble. This will be followed by Mark Winges’ “Seasons Falling Through the Clouds.” LCCE will take over the rest of the program beginning with selections from Robert Schumann’s Opus 12 Fantasiestücke, followed by Shaw Okpebholo’s “Fractured Water.” For readers that do not already know, the Noe Valley Ministry is located in Noe Valley at 1021 Sanchez Street.

The second event will be a revival of Path of Miracles, created by Volti in partnership with ODC Dance. This was first performed in Grace Cathedral in February of 2023. A revival has been planned for performance at Saint Joseph’s Art Society, taking place on Tuesday, April 14, Wednesday, April 15, and Thursday, April 16. The venue will be Saint Joseph’s Arts Society at 1401 Howard Street. Unfortunately, no further information is currently available.

Similarly, little information has been provided for the final performance on Saturday, May 9, other than the venue being Herbst Theatre in the Civic Center at 401 Van Ness Avenue, across the street from City Hall. The entire program will be devoted to Angel Island Oratorio, composed by Huang Ruo. Volti will be accompanied by the Del Sol Quartet, and there will be a staged performance by the Oakland Ballet. This will be the last of the three performances in the Dancing Moons Festival presented by Oakland Ballet.

Presumably, further details will be made available in the new year. For those that like to make their plans as soon as possible, earlier will be better than later. Hopefully, those that prefer earlier will be patient!

Keeping up with the “Bleeding Edge”

Some readers may have noticed that no articles were added to this site yesterday. Mind you, my Saturday article accounted for two new albums of performances by Roland Kirk, which provided me with more than enough to keep me occupied; but, since they were to be released on the same day (this coming Friday), I saw no reason to deal with them separately. So, if I took a break on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, I could feel that it was a “day of rest” well earned!

This morning’s source of inspiration, Samuel Beckett (photograph by Roger Pic, from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, on a Wikimedia Commons Web page, released into the public domain by the photographer)

That rest actually helped “charge” me for this morning. This week’s Bleeding Edge accounted for eleven events distributed over five different venues. Mind you, when I have to account for so much information, I am always glad to have an imaginary Zen monk sitting on my shoulder to remind me of the meaning of “patience!” A more concrete reminder comes from a passage in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame:

Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished. Grain upon grain, one by one, and one day, suddenly, there's a heap, a little heap, the impossible heap.

Fortunately, I can enjoy the fact that my account of the week’s activities did not emerge as an “impossible heap!”

On the other hand, I am struck by the fact that the first half of this month is often the busiest time of the year. Everyone seems to be preparing for a celebration involving a generous amount of preparation. Most of those celebrations involve sacred events, but I suspect that the secular side has at least a few priorities of its own! So the fact that it took me longer than usual to write this morning’s article may just be another instance of why this time of year is so busy. All that really matters to me is that all of this morning’s efforts have led to the desire to take a break for a mid-morning snack!

The Bleeding Edge: 12/1/2025

The last month of the year will get off to a very busy start. Perhaps the evenings will be seen as a welcome time of relief after a hectic day of shopping! All the venues will be familiar to regular readers, and the options are impressively diverse. Details are as follows:

Tuesday, December 2, 8 p.m., The Knockout: DJ George Chen is celebrating his birthday by inviting friends to both perform and share DJ activities. He will alternate with Les Detrimental in spinning post-punk tracks and vinyl goofs. This is one of those gigs whose producer does not seem to care very much about background specifics.

The opening set will be by Magic Penny, whose members are Stanley Lam, Jon Constantino, and Jude. Information about instrumentation is provided for only the last of them, drummer Jude. The second set will be taken by Kevin Corcoran and Jacob Felix Heule, describing themselves as “two guys making scratching and rubbing noises on bass drums.” Boxleitner will take the final set, providing no advance information. The Knockout is located in the Mission at 3223 Mission Street (across from Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack). Admission will be $10.

Wednesday, December 3, and Saturday, December 6, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, December 4, 7 p.m., and Friday, December 5, 8 p.m., Grey Area Art And Technology: This will be the annual festival presented by Recombinant Media Labs, given the title Recombinant Network Editions 2025. Each day will have a different curator presenting a unique program of performers. Gray Area has created a Web page with specifics for each of the programs and a hyperlink for purchasing tickets, including a pass for the entire event. Gray Area is located in the Mission at 2665 Mission Street, between 22nd Street and 23rd Street.

Thursday, December 4, Friday, December 5, and Saturday, December 6, 8 p.m., Audium: 1000 Whispers From Our Future is “an auditory excursion that transcends the confines of our physicality and ascends listeners into the waves of the infinite.” More specifically, it is the result of almost a decade of work by Pat Mesiti-Miller inside California prisons, during which he recorded the sounds of the physical structures of incarceration. Over the course of the performance, listeners will be guided through three realms: The Realm of the Concrete, The Realm of Transcendence, and The Realm of Spirit. For those that do not already know, this performing space has 176 loudspeakers. It is located at 1616 Bush Street, and the price of admission will be twenty and thirty dollars. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, December 5, 6 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: The title of the next jazz gig at this venue will be John Calloway’s Fall to Winter Musings, a reflection on the change of the seasons. John Calloway plays flutes of different sizes, leading a quartet whose other members are pianist Murray Low, Sam Bevan on bass, and drummer Scott Amendola. This is another familiar venue for “bleeding edge” events; but, for those encountering the venue for the first time, it is located in Glen Park at 653 Chenery Street. The cover charge is $20 will a student rate of $10. Younger children will be admitted at no charge. Those wishing to make reservations can call 415-586-3733.

Friday, December 5, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: This will be the next Other Dimensions in Sound performance curated by reed player David Boyce. This week Boyce has been a bit coy about the program, describing it only as “a very special tribute to our friend eyevee.” As always, the venue is the bookstore located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. There is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Lost Trio musicians Phillip Greenlief, Tom Hassett, and Dan Seamans (from the BayImproviser Web page for their performance this week)

Friday, December 5, 8:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: This venue will present a second set, which will be “something completely different.” The performers will be saxophonist Phillip Greenlief, Dan Seamans on bass, and drummer Tom Hassett. They call themselves collectively The Lost Trio. As of this writing, no information about admission has been provided.