The eighth episode of the "Human 2040" series, entitled "I spend free time”, shows how we will spend our leisure time in the future. In 2040, will artificial intelligence be able to compose music and our favourite songs? Will we watch artists' concerts from the couch of our own home via holograms? And finally, how will we relate to environmental topics in a world dominated by technology? In this part of the "Man 2040" series, analysts from Polityka Insight take on board trends such as the development of entertainment in virtual reality and the desire to disconnect from electronics in favor of greater contact with nature. Andrzej Bobiński, managing director of Polityka Insight, talks to Piotr Żelazny, sports journalist, podcaster and publisher of the "Mine - the art of football" magazine, about whether the presented vision of spending free time has a chance to come true.

THE POLISH CURATOR OF ALGORITHMS, TYTUS ‘I-GO-RYTHM’ KORTOWIECKI, HAS WON A GRAMMY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

This is the first time in Grammy history that an algorithm curator, or an artist who creates a sound association system rather than music per se, has won.

Kortowiecki is a recognised AI artist and precursor of generic music. He does not call himself the ‘author of music’ but a ‘curator of algorithms֦’ - he does not have a formal degree in music education, which he emphasizes at every moment. He won the Golden i-tunes algorithm for the best curator, which is awarded for the highest number of uses of the algorithm, multiple times. Previously, however, he was not appreciated by the traditional music and entertainment industry. 

Kortowiecki, one of the richest Poles, composes algorithms which form personalized music. It includes mainly sound-tracks tailored to the user's situation and needs. Algorithms react in real time to the emotions experienced by the listener. I-go-rythm specializes in generic music which is created by an algorithm partly from existing songs (macrosamples) and partly from superimposed rhythmic standards. The global usage of this algorithm oscillates around 400 million uses per day.

At the Grammys, I-go-rythm presented one of its works which was composed with the new ‘shared group preference algorithm’ technology. Tytus invited all the participants of the event, present at the ceremony in person and participating remotely, to share their music footprint from the previous week. The invitation was accepted by 141,000 viewers (37% of live broadcast participants), which is an informal record. The algorithm composed a four-minute song for 154 seconds. The hologram of the singing Andrzej Zaucha was selected for its visualisation, and the main macrosample came from K-pop.

The live performance of the song was poorly received by critics and most of the physical participants of the event, but it received widespread praise from the digital industry and the audience participating online. After 48 hours of the performance, it already has 700 million views, mainly from East Asia. According to Kortowiecki, we are approaching a world in which the ‘shared group reference algorithm’ will be able to generate a worldwide club set or a concert for the general public. The end result is not ideal yet, but a breakthrough, according to Tytus, seems to be within reach.

After his return to the country, Kortowiecki is to be awarded a medal for artistic achievement by the Minister of Culture and Digital Heritage. The Polish curator is famous for providing his algorithms with Polish themes, thanks to which millions of people around the world became aware of the existence of musicians such as Andrzej Zaucha, Marek i Wacek, Wioletta Villas, Kaliber 44 or DJ Simba.

SEJM ADOPTS ACT ON THE REWILDING OF POLAND

Under the European Plan, 7% of the country's territory is to be ‘uncivilized’ by 2042. This is a success for the exotic coalition of the Polish Tourism Organization (PTO), the Polish Society of Digital and Mental Health and the WWF.

Rewilding will primarily cover the areas of small towns and villages which young people have been leaving for decades in search of a better life in metropolitan areas. The current inhabitants will be able to become part of the newly created parks and carry out subsidized tourism activities there. Those who do not decide to do so will receive reallocation compensation.

The new law is greatly welcomed by the PTO, which believes that competition and state investment in new national parks will translate into a significant increase in tourism revenues. Travel to places that provide contact with nature has already contributed to an increase in national tourism revenue of almost 10% (year-on-year). The PTO estimates that rewilding will make it possible to maintain a double-digit growth rate after 2042. 

The funding for rewilding is to come from the Digital Health Fund (DHF), from the project line 2.1 Counteracting addiction to social platforms. For many years, the Polish Society of Digital and Mental Health has been highlighting the problem of dependence on social media and virtual reality, which is becoming an increasingly common psychological problem in Poland. The Society recommends offline therapies which require appropriate environmental conditions, hence the swift and efficient agreement on the funding of national parks from the DHF.

Ultimately, all wild areas are to be connected with ecological corridors. Where possible, unnecessary roads have been removed, elsewhere they have been elevated above forest level or supplemented by animal passages. The Polish corridors are to form part of the European Ecological Corridor that uniformly links the Atlantic coast with the Black Sea and the Polar Circle with the Mediterranean Sea. 

The new rules are a breakthrough in the fight for wildlife rights. The EU Directive of 2037 required Member States to confer legal personality on animals and to give them the opportunity to live as themselves, that is to say, in a way consistent with their biologically established customs. The rights of livestock and pets have so far been given priority over the rights of wild animals. Under the new law, a representative of the park, i.e. a guardian of the wild animals living there, can be appointed. He/she will decide on the level and form of eligible tourism.

The first QuidditchVR World Cup finals in 2041 will take place in Katowice

The event is sponsored by Daniel Radcliff’s FlySpotter and Garmin, the producer of VR goggles. The final will take place at the planned Metaverse Arena in Katowice.

Players will only play in certified FlySpotters, vertical aero-dynamic tunnels where, for many years, fans of the classic series of Harry Potter, the wizard, have been flying on broomsticks and acting out scenes from J.K.’s books. Rowling’s books, and (recently) playing in QuidditchVR. After months of negotiations, the company reached an agreement with Garmin, a leader in the VR goggle and software industry. The decision to choose Katowice was taken by the newly created World Quidditch Federation headed by Mac-kenzie Rowling, daughter of the author of a series of books on Potter.

The final in Katowice Metaverse Arena is to host 200,000 viewers; the organisers count on a 40-fold bigger audience on the day of the event. Common qualifiers, the championships and the knockout phase are to take place only in the virtual world. The costs of a physical game (using androbots) and the time needed to construct and test the stadium will prevent more games from being played in the real world.

QuidditchVR is becoming increasingly popular. According to recent human research up to the age of 45, 74% of people in the world know Harry Potter. Additionally, 56% have played classic PC Quidditch, seen Harry Potter films or read Rowling books. The Championships will not only be a test of popularity of the game in the VR version, but also of the wider use of VR to play games and tournaments in classic and new sports. If the stadium version in the Metaverse under construction is wellreceived, a renaissance of VR games, which have started to lose supporters, can be expected. 

Regardless of the success of the championship and the development of this sporting discipline, the winner is Radcliffe, the first Potter impersonator in classic films from the beginning of the 21st century. For years, Radcliffe has struggled with a singlerole label, which has stopped his career development. However, in recent years he has invested in a network of FlySpotter tunnels, which has become extremely popular. The network of franchised tunnels is expanding at an enormous pace. In Poland alone, there are 435 fly rooms which employ 2,400 people in total.