Legendary magicians like David Blaine and David Copperfield have mesmerized audiences with the impossible. Now, in a time when technology is charging forward at breakneck speed, one can’t help but imagine that perhaps some of the magic behind this occurrence might have been lost. But magician and puzzle creator David Kwong believes that it’s actually technology — specifically artificial intelligence (AI)— that makes our sense of wonder even more enhanced.
In a recent TED talk, Kwong demonstrated how AI, specifically ChatGPT, could be used to create magical experiences. He performed a series of “mind-reading” tricks using the AI, correctly guessing which hand an audience member had hidden a coin in multiple times. This fusion of traditional magic and cutting-edge technology exemplifies Kwong’s belief that wonder is still very much alive in our modern world.
Kwong defines wonder as “an experience or an object that defies explanation, that blows our mind, that stirs within us that deep and undeniable sense of wonder.” He argues that contrary to popular belief, technological advancements haven’t diminished our ability to experience wonder — they’ve expanded it.
“I would say that not only can we experience wonder despite our modern marvels and technological advances, but that we can experience more wonder because of them,” Kwong asserted, pointing to examples like the Hubble Telescope’s images of the Pillars of Creation, which allow us to marvel at cosmic wonders far beyond what our ancestors could have imagined.
Kwong sees his role as a magician in the digital age as part of a long lineage of wonderworkers. He explained: “As a magician, I have the coolest job in the world. I get to stand in a long line of men and women, of priests and shamans, of wizards and witches who stand on the precipice of technological advancement and look out from the cutting edge of mankind’s achievement into the eternal expanse of the unknown and say, ‘I can totally use this to screw with people’s minds.’”
While Kwong’s performance with ChatGPT was undoubtedly impressive, he stressed that the true magic lies not in the technology itself, but in our human capacity to question and wonder. He concluded his talk with a powerful reminder: “We, and we alone have the unique privilege to look with fresh eyes, to ask the bigger question. So, look. Ask. Do not let go to waste the gift that we alone possess: our capacity for wonder.”
With the world turning more and more towards technological dominance, Kwong’s perspective is vibrantly new as to how something which seems so temporary is actually timeless in terms of its hold on the human spirit of wonder. And, with AI continuing to evolve, it would probably just turn into another magician’s tool, giving us further opportunities to be bedazzled by wonder and awe — exactly like that which has happened through time.
Featured image: Credit: Magicbymio
