Voices in the Room (Even When I’m Alone)
Another day at Birnam Arts working on Good Enough. Bit by bit, the sedentary body is being cast off. Movement is coming back. It feels good. A long way still to go.
I'm missing the feedback and energy of other dancers in the room. But between sessions with the brilliant humans I'm lucky to have on this project, I've found some new artificial intelligence friends. A counsellor. A storyteller. A community practitioner. A choreographer. And others. Voices I can't afford to have in the studio with me full-time, sat in the room as I work.
Here's the thing I wasn't expecting. With the AI voices, there's nothing at stake in the room. No one's time I'm using. No relationship to tend. And also, having them vibe with and against each other in the same chat provided new paths to mine.
As a gay man long practised at pleasing, I notice how much that frees me up. I can think badly out loud, change my mind mid-sentence, follow a thread that goes nowhere. It's a different kind of thinking space.
Not a fully open one, mind. Nothing personally identifiable goes into those conversations. Big brother is always watching. So it's a freer room, but a curated one. That tension feels honest to name.
I'm not asking AI to make the work. The artistry and the creative decisions are mine. The voices are there to expand my lens, because we all know you don't know what you don't know.