Preethi Sriram
By Preethi Sriram
What is “mine” to take credit for.
Another question: what is “original” and what is “copyrighted?”
These are topics that are relevant in the modern day, especially when it comes to the very topical issue of Artificial Intelligence. If someone utilizes AI, who gets the credit?
It is interesting to see the amount of division just the concept of AI can bring in:
“No AI! Humans first!”
“Individuality over artificiality!”
“AI is not original!”
So how does society grapple with this concept of possession and especially with the pervasive presence of AI? If we investigate the past, there may be some stories that can help to give us insight into this modern issue.
One of the old stories to pull from the time machine portal is the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata is the great epic of the family of Pandavas and Kauravas. It is thought to be one of the longest poems that have been written.
While this Guinness worthy record is impressive on its own, the behind-the-scenes footages of how the author, Krishna Dwapaiyana, writes the story is worthy of its own spotlight.
The sage needs help to write his story and so he approaches Lord Ganesha and asks that he be the scribe for what he orates.
Lord Ganesha is truly the deity to beseech for this enormous task as he is very knowledgeable, wise and has a good reputation for being able to remove obstacles. This leads to the topic what is “mine.”
Who then wrote the Mahabharata? Is there a “competition” between Lord Ganesha and Krishna Dwaipayana to see who wrote it? Since Lord Ganesha was the scribe, was he the writer? He used his own tusk to write out the epic. Or some may say then it was the orator who is then the “writer.”
This may seem somewhat silly and feel inane to wonder whether it was Lord Ganesha or Krishna Dwaipanya who “owns” the story, but we see this in everyday life as well.
Sometimes, when something good happens, some may be more likely to say that “I was the one who made this. No one helped me. I pulled myself out of my bootstraps and did it all on my own.”
There are many anecdotes available from extremely rich people who tell us how they came from nothing, so they did it themselves.
But if there are troubles that one may go through, one may look up at the stars and “credit” it for all the woes. Is there a balance between the two sides? The question then comes into play: did one really do something completely on their own, or are there other factors that may come into play?
Lord Ganesha writing the Mahabharata as Krishna Dwaipanya orates is a beautiful scene. One may be able to witness this seen through listening, reading, or seeing it for oneself.
This is where the old story from long ago can have relevance in modern society and the issue of “what is mine.”
One can see then that there does not have to be duality and division but unity in the two concepts of “mine” vs “yours”. Giving credit does not mean that one’s individual credit must decrease.
These concepts can co-exist in harmony: The writers, the authors and the stars of the past, become a continued presence to guide us with enlightenment.
And that enlightenment may be encoded as well within the AI.
This series of articles is about the journey and unique insights of an adult dance student learning classical Indian dance and the experiences and perspective of taking classical Indian dance as both an American and an Indian.
Preethi Sriram is a classical dance enthusiast and lifelong learner of dance. Contact: srirampreethi@hotmail.com.
