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New Scientist recommends 13 Ways of Looking at AI, Art & Music

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

By Alex Wilkins

19 February 2025

Jennifer Walshe, 13 Ways of Looking at AI, Art & Music

Unsound

The UK government’s new AI Opportunities Action Plan was launched using this strange phrase: “Today’s plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation.”

It caught the eye of artist-composer Jennifer Walshe, who poked fun at it in a recent talk on her new book, 13 Ways of Looking at AI, Art & Music (pictured above).

Look up “mainline” in a dictionary, Walshe told a crowd at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, and it is mostly associated with heroin use. It seemed “an unorthodox phrasing for a government to use in a press release”, she said.

Light-hearted and playful,…

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