Dominic George: Greater premium for an original

A robotic dog will have to really durable and adaptable to replace the real thing. Photo / Duncan Brown

Algorithms and robots can’t replace a good dog, a real piece of meat and a good tune

No surprises to hear David Seymour declare himself to be a jazz fan on TV the other night.

As Joey the Lips said in The Commitments, jazz is simply musical w***ing. Still, there's no accounting for taste and it takes all sorts, apparently, to make the world go round - even jazz fans. Although in saying that, some mathematical whizzkid has seemingly come up with an algorithm that can predict what music you like based on one solitary song.

If David Seymour entered a riveting jazz title from one of his heroes into the algorithmic system, it would then create an entire radio station of jazz for him to listen to. I have no doubt the system would probably throw up some old favourites and also introduce Seymour to some new songs that he's hitherto not had the pleasure of hearing.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with this, it's simply musical choices based on formula and most art is based on some kind of formula; think sonnets, Greek tragedy, the blues, even perspective in painting as examples - they all have a mathematical formula at their core.

Of course, the best performers in these fields are masters at taking the formula and moulding it into something that resembles originality. Again, think Shakespeare, Sophocles, Robert Johnson and Leonardo da Vinci. What they've done is added the human touch, that bit which is imperfect but which makes it connect with other people.

Which is why I was pleased to see Federated Farmers meat and fibre chairman Rick Powdrell pooh-pooh the idea of robotic sheepdogs last week. European academics believe they've created an algorithm simulating sheepdog behaviour.

He points out that anyone who works with dogs and sheep knows there's more to this than an algorithm. Powdrell attests to the primordial instinctive connection between the two animals and also makes a salient point regarding the agility of working dogs on unforgiving terrain.

Sure there may be some use for robotic dogs in the future, but it would have to be some pretty remarkable and durable technology to handle the kind of work they'd need to do on an average New Zealand farm.

Interestingly, Powdrell raises a good point about natural and genuine products being replaced by inferior ones.

He says inevitably a greater premium will eventually be placed on the original, citing the example of Swiss watches enduring the initial onslaught of digital watches to become the premium quality product of its kind on the market.

To take it back to the arts, the worse mainstream artistic endeavours have become, like TV with its cooking and DIY shows, music with its insufferable sameness and art works like the fluorescent light bulbs and old drink bottles that Te Papa recently purchased for close to half a million dollars, the better the genuine article has become.

Scratch the surface and there's some stunning TV shows, music, movies at the moment. In fact, we're at a real high point, you just have to look a bit harder and invest a bit more. Jazz has always purported to be high end but that's rubbish. The reality is that those who tell you they like it do so only to make themselves appear more sophisticated.

All the algorithms and robots under the sun can't replace a good working dog, a real piece of meat and a good tune.

Although, now that I think about it, maybe ACT could put up an algorithm in Epsom in 2017? It would win if John Key told people to vote for it, it would arguably have more personality than the chap who's there now and it wouldn't like jazz.

• Dominic George hosts Farming First,5am-6am weekdays on Radio Sport.