Deborah Pearson

What would John Berger do? In June I made a score for an audience-generated version of The Future Show at the John Berger conference at the University of Potsdam.

Wrote about John Berger and The Future Show on my (kind of) brand new substack... open.substack.com/pub/performi...

The Copyright and AI consultation - how to respond as an illustrator – The AOI The Copyright and Artificial Intelligence consultation was published by in December 2024, and we are encouraging illustrators to submit a response to the consultation to demonstrate the negative affec...

Who’s been putting off filling in that government consultation on AI then? Because you took one look and realised that fucking thing was designed SPECIFICALLY to put you off?

Don’t worry, there are three online guides to help you:

The Association of Illustrators
theaoi.com/news/the-cop...

You’ve got the next hour to fill this in if you can. The questions are definitely phrased in a way to discourage you from finishing the survey, but finish it anyway. Our human voices should be heard, not stolen.

Last chance to respond to the government’s consultation on AI’s threat to creatives and copyright. Here’s a handy guide to filling it in from @writersguildgb.bsky.social.

As promised, here are the slides I shared with students to convince them to NOT use chatGPT and other artificial stupidity.

TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄

“I use antlers in all of my decorating.” Is there any better lyric in film?

BBC radio drama is in grave danger. Without it we may lose the next generation of writing talent Hundreds of hours of original plays have been cut from the corporation’s programming in recent years. If the trend continues, a valuable training ground for writers will be lost

An important piece in today’s Observer from Katie Hims on why cuts to audio drama are so damaging - to writers, audiences and the wider cultural ecosystem in the UK

We continue to campaign to Save Audio Drama at the BBC #SADatTheBBC

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Some people are celebrities as a result of absolute privilege. Some are celebrities as a result of absolute hardship. Some are celebrities as a result of incredibly hard work/virtuosic skill. Liza Minelli is all three. #Legend
#LoveLiza

Incredibly honest moment: one of the most useful cookbooks I have ever bought is Tim Anderson’s Microwave Cooking. Not necessarily for the recipes but for the paradigm shift it offers a cook in terms of how they think of their microwave. It isn’t just for reheating, it’s a tool.

Not exaggerating when I say I would like a personal, handwritten apology from every pundit who barfed out a dozen "the left wants to change the way you talk!" op-eds based on non-mandatory guidelines in obscure PDFs.

Anyone else feel like “Feed the Birds” in Mary Poppins is the moment you realise your nanny is a radical anarchist who wants to take down capitalism with her cool chimney sweep artist f-buddy? And does the beauty of that realisation make anyone else cry?

Let’s not trade wisdom for knowledge.

Grow up

Art reclassified as content and they think people who make it are arrogant, pretentious and make them feel boring. They also think (rightly) that artists are a danger to totalitarianism.

Most people don’t want all this AI. But the government is kowtowing to billionaires, who are not most people.

There could be a future where algorithms chatting with eachother about all the things the humans used to do is the only intelligent life left in the universe.

“Dreyfuss once wrote from Devil’s Island that he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Brittany he realised they had only been seagulls. For me, they will always be glorious birds.”

- Maude

Starmer: Labour will be cutting carbon emissions. Crowd: Yay! Starmer: Meet my new robot butler, AI! (Smoke billows. Crowd coughs.) Reporter: Didn’t you say we would be cutting carbon emissions? Starmer: La La La!

Today, honor a King, not a Felon. #mlkday2025

Anyone truly interested in elegance must admire the inimitable creature that is the cat.

After almost 20 years living in the U.K., my North American accent sounds like I left yesterday. But the place where I’ve “gone British” is in emails. I have never signed one “Cheerio” but that could be next

Happy Birthday Kieran!!!

‘Mainlined into UK’s veins’: Labour announces huge public rollout of AI Plans to make UK world leader in AI sector include opening access to NHS and other public data

So the Labour government clearly does not give a sh*t about climate change. Carbon emissions from even relatively simple AI use are enormous.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Demi, Jodie and Nicole: is Hollywood finally ready to recognise complex female characters over 40? | Natasha Ginnivan At the Golden Globes, the spotlight was on women playing multilayered, courageous and middle-aged lead roles

There is a lot of irony in this headline reading “over 40” when every actress referenced in the article is over 50. Why pretend they are 10 years younger? Isn’t it cooler that these women are over 50?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I am a climate scientist and this is correct ⬇️

Some people make life bigger and more beautiful.

And some people make life smaller and worse.

Master of the cute sulk.

once again i am astonished at UK politicians and their inability to understand the simplest fucking things about the gift horse that is the 🇬🇧 creative industry and how little money they will fuck it over for.

“You speak like someone who has no ideals.”
“True. I am a neo-frivolist.”
“And how does that differ from old-fashioned frivolity?”
“Mostly in the ‘neo’ prefix. It makes it more interesting.”

- Antal Szerb, The Pendragon Legend, 1933

UK proposes letting tech firms use copyrighted work to train AI Consultation suggests opt-out scheme for creatives who don’t want their work used by Google, OpenAI and others

The government will try to sell the public on AI generated art as a collaboration between algorithms and artists, but can collaboration be non-consensual, aimed at erasing the autonomy of the human collaborator?

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Re: AI
I emailed copyrightconsultation@ipo.gov.uk the following letter. Happy to share and I urge all my colleagues to get in touch with these kowtowers and tell it like it is.