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Sting, artificial intelligence, and that time the world almost ended
In June 1985, Sting released his first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles. The third track on the record is one of my favorite tracks of all time, the song “Russians”:
Sting went on to earn a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year and one for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for that record. And the backing music on the song is so typically Russian. In fact, Sting claims that he borrowed it directly from Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Interestingly, and although I’m not sure when it was originally recorded, there is audio of a concert, posted on YouTube back in 2010, where Sting explains that the song originated from watching pirated Soviet TV with his friend Kenny:
For so many reasons this song resonates with me, it reminds me of my childhood, it has a connection to hacking pirated TV, and it highlights a theme that I’ve been obsessed with as of late: the relationship between the United States and Soviet Union back in the 80s and its impact on modern Russian/US relations, specifically as it relates to technologies like artificial intelligence.
In January of 2019, Vladimir Putin, the current President of Russia, instructed the Russian government to create a national strategy for the development of artificial intelligence. According to my Google translation of the directive, Putin desires the government of Russian to:
“develop approaches to the national strategy for the development of artificial intelligence and submit appropriate proposals.”
Speaking to a group students back in 2017, Putin predicted that whichever country led AI research globally would eventually dominate the rest of the planet. “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all…
