The app revolution in magic became apparent to me when āCard2phoneā, āiunlock your mindā and āWikitestā were on the scene. I used all three, and considered them excellent use cases for this new technology that was taking over the world.Ā
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The merging of traditional magic with this new piece of technology which was magical in it's own right, what could possibly be the problem? So long at the delivery was shaped in such a way that the technology was inexplicably linked to the method, audiences would not put the two together.
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Fast forward 10 yearsā¦
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We are now sat in a time where Ai is devouring the world, everyone has access to it (even my mum has replaced google with ChatGPT) AND still in it's infancy.Ā
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All of a sudden the ability to do almost anything is within reach of almost anyone with a phone and internet connection.
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This democratisation of Ai has also caused wide spread knowledge of what tech is capable of among the public. The curtain has been pulled back, the everyday person (although they do not quite understand Ai) knows enough to be able point at a thing and say āoh it's probably Aiā. Even if that is not the case, it's enough to satisfy the mind.
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This is similar to a spectator watching a 5 phased card routine, seeing the magician (secretly) pick up two cards as one and being completely satisfied that they know how it was ALL done.
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Magicians who walk the path for long enough will experience this, it's frustrating but at the same time fair. It highlights that there is no room for cracks, the magician must have every element of their magic and performance water tight in order to achieve recognised excellence from their audiences.
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š¤ So how does the Ai revolution effect the publicās experience of magic?
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Quite simply; if it could have been accomplished using Ai, then it ceases to be magic.
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Is magic dead?
No, far from it. Magic is about to experience a monumental rebirth.
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Each generation benefits from the new technologies of their age. For me it was the computer and the internet. The democratisation of both these technologies fundamentally altered how my generation learned, thought, and solved problems.Ā
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I was always baffled why we had to show our workings in maths class, āthat is what a calculator was for!ā (Which had been around for decades before I was born).
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Fast forward to 2026 Ai now has the answer to almost everything. This means this new generation of people have both access to knowing everything but lack the hands on understanding of it. They have the ultimate calculator (Ai) but they cannot show their workings out (their understanding).
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This Ai generation will be so far removed from the physical and mental experience gained by doing things themselves that they will not have the capacity to make the connections and think in terms of the physical world.
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All of a sudden magic that accomplishes the impossible in ways that cannot be replicated using Ai become the most magical of all. A ball vanishing, a card appearing in an orange, a ring floating,ā¦ these all become the most impossible for the very fact that they cannot be accomplished using technology!Ā
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In a world where the answer to everything lives in Ai, magic exists in defiance of the physical laws of nature.Ā
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In a world where the methods of magic can be reduced to āAiā, the magician can simply revert to methods used before the very existence of Ai, computers, or the calculator.
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In a world so advanced Magicians must look to the past to mystify the future.
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This is a rebirth of the 'archetypal magicianā, the magician who works to attain their skill, invests many hours to accomplish something no one is ever supposed to see, to achieve something impossible.
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Skill, sleight of hand, physical objects, the world of engineering, science, and psychology are at the forefront of the next generation magician who wants to give the modern audience the feeling of real magic.
