Like a lot of people, Dominic Cappello has seen and heard plenty of gloomy projections about what a future dominated by artificial intelligence could be like -- dystopian, perhaps even apocalyptic.
But the Santa Fe author, educator and artist dismisses those notions, maintaining we have a lot more to fear from many of our public officials than we do from some virtual boogeyman.
"Do not fear the AI overlords," he said. "Fear the political leaders who don't care about the public."
Cappello hopes to show people a more benign and engaging side of AI with his launch of a podcast aimed at promoting his new book, The Traumatized Doctor's Diary. Rather than promote and market the book through traditional channels, Cappello has created a podcast, A Deep Dive, that explores the book's themes in depth.
Cappello has developed the project while serving as an artist-in-residence for the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, which aims to preserve, protect and promote the historic properties and cultural heritage of the Santa Fe area.
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Dominic Cappello, an artist-in-residence with the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, works on sketches for his next book at his studio apartment March 5 at the foundation. Cappello has created a 10-episode podcast called A Deep Dive, centered on his new memoir, The Traumatized Doctor's Diary, that features two AI-generated hosts.
In lieu of human hosts, the show features two AI-generated characters, Abel and Iris, chatting about the book across 10 episodes that range in length from 10 to 20 minutes.
Cappello said the hosts' names serve as a nod to their nonhuman origins -- Abel for artificial, Iris for intelligence. Listeners might notice the two never refer to their names during the podcast.
"They don't know their names," he said. "They also don't know they're AI, if you want to get existential."
Cappello is pursuing his doctorate in education at New Mexico State University, with much of his research focused on transformational learning and community problem solving. He began experimenting with AI after taking a technology course at NMSU, an experience he said opened his eyes to the power of the medium.
Diving into AI applications, Cappello said he found it almost impossible to distinguish between AI-generated videos on YouTube and real video. That led him to start thinking about how AI could be used as a creative tool -- as opposed to, you know, enslaving the human race.
The process of creating the podcast was relatively straightforward from that point, he said. Cappello took a series of essays from the first chapter of his book -- a memoir that explores issues related to trauma, healing and societal change -- and uploaded them into an AI program designed to create a podcast from the material.
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Dominic Cappello, an artist-in-residence with the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, works on sketches for his next book at his studio apartment March 5 at the foundation. Cappello has created a 10-episode podcast called A Deep Dive, centered on his new memoir, The Traumatized Doctor's Diary, that features two AI-generated hosts.
Maybe two minutes later, the first version of a script for that podcast emerged. Cappello said he tweaked some of the language after discovering some of his concepts had been misrepresented. Then he uploaded the material again.
"It got it right the second time," he said.
That was a valuable learning experience for Cappello, who said it has helped him identify AI's specific weak spots. Nevertheless, he said, he couldn't have been happier with what emerged from the process, especially after he converted the project from a script to an audio file.
Abel and Iris not only have remarkably lifelike voices -- complete with changes in inflection, cadence and tone, while punctuating their pronouncements with decidedly human verbal crutches such as "uh" and "um" -- they also make occasional references to their "childhoods."
"They talk like they're real people," Cappello said. "That's both disturbing and fascinating."
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Dominic Cappello, an artist-in-residence with the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, works on sketches for his next book in his studio apartment March 5 at the foundation. Cappello has created a 10-episode podcast called A Deep Dive, centered on his new memoir, The Traumatized Doctor's Diary, that features two AI-generated hosts.
Hanna Churchwell, education programs and publications manager for the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, had the same reaction when she listened to the first episode of A Deep Dive.
"It is scary how lifelike they are," she said. "It really sounds like you're listening to NPR."
Churchwell said the foundation gives its artists free rein to pursue whatever projects they like during their residency. And she already had known Cappello for three years, becoming well acquainted with his interests and how his mind works, so she said she wasn't exactly surprised by the direction his project took.
The Traumatized Doctor's Diary -- Cappello isn't a physician, but he has devoted much of his life to health advocacy issues -- is only the first in a series of books by Cappello that will employ the AI podcast as a promotional and educational tool. The second installment, The Traumatized American's Diary, is due out in April.
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Dominic Cappello, an artist-in-residence with the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, works on sketches for his next book at his studio apartment March 5. Cappello has created a 10-episode podcast called A Deep Dive, centered on his new memoir, The Traumatized Doctor's Diary, that features two AI-generated hosts.
The Traumatized Doctor's Diary also features several dozen illustrations by the author that accompany its essays.
Describing himself as a glass-half-full kind of guy, Cappello nevertheless acknowledged AI is just as susceptible to corrupting influences as any other tool, if not more. Whether it comes to be regarded as a positive or negative by future generations depends to a large degree on how it is integrated into society now, he said.
"I'm a complete optimist, but I can see how this could really go sideways," Cappello said.
Like it or not, Cappello said, AI is going to play a big role in everyone's lives soon, if it isn't already. He said that's why everyone should be taking an active interest in the technology, making sure their concerns are addressed.
"Let's dialog about this," he said. "Let's not put our head in the sand about this."
Cappello will present a book talk in the foundation's El Zaguán Art Gallery later this month. A showing of the book's artwork continues in the gallery through March 22.