Lisbon has become a fair.
The fair's theme?
Lisbon itself.
Approximately one year ago I read a tourism article that stuck with me.
It took the words of a foreign (but culturally close) journalist to finally dissect what I feel every time I visit the city for the past 5 years.
The government's laissez-faire attitude towards tourism and unregulated foreign real estate investment erased any trace of authenticity away from downtown - as accurately and sharply described in the article.
It now takes a pre-2010s Lisboeta to tell you right from wrong in what concerns the authentic parts of the city and experiences from the rest.
Conversely, Lisboetas are being made acutely aware on what is actually authentic and requires preservation.
If the current Lisbon is made up to look like a staged copy of itself, will that manufactured copy ever be worth talking about in the years to come?
In many ways, it feels like a real life re-enactment of the hype around AI (did you really think this was finally going to be your AI-less post of the month?).
Authenticity of content is being erased from the internet.
It takes an experienced software engineer to tell what is an acceptable and part-of-a-whole AI-generated code.
Distribution of code and content is becoming AI-heavy - like statistical copies of itself.
If the appeal of these copies becomes low, will AI-generated content of those copies be more appealing?
Not sure. But there are some good things to draw from this.
Current AI does not replace thinking.
It reveals what actually requires thinking.
I can only hope tourism reveals what requires preserving.
The fair's theme?
Lisbon itself.
Approximately one year ago I read a tourism article that stuck with me.
It took the words of a foreign (but culturally close) journalist to finally dissect what I feel every time I visit the city for the past 5 years.
The government's laissez-faire attitude towards tourism and unregulated foreign real estate investment erased any trace of authenticity away from downtown - as accurately and sharply described in the article.
It now takes a pre-2010s Lisboeta to tell you right from wrong in what concerns the authentic parts of the city and experiences from the rest.
Conversely, Lisboetas are being made acutely aware on what is actually authentic and requires preservation.
If the current Lisbon is made up to look like a staged copy of itself, will that manufactured copy ever be worth talking about in the years to come?
In many ways, it feels like a real life re-enactment of the hype around AI (did you really think this was finally going to be your AI-less post of the month?).
Authenticity of content is being erased from the internet.
It takes an experienced software engineer to tell what is an acceptable and part-of-a-whole AI-generated code.
Distribution of code and content is becoming AI-heavy - like statistical copies of itself.
If the appeal of these copies becomes low, will AI-generated content of those copies be more appealing?
Not sure. But there are some good things to draw from this.
Current AI does not replace thinking.
It reveals what actually requires thinking.
I can only hope tourism reveals what requires preserving.