Meet Rahere, court jester to King Henry I and Barts’ founder in 1123; and John Graham-Pole, 1966 graduate from Barts medical school and 1990 co-founder of Arts in Medicine (AIM} at Shands Hospital, University of Florida, & HARP The People’s Press (H-ealing A-rts R-econciling P-eoples: www.tryhealingarts.ca).

The author Dorothy Lander imagines a conversation between Rahere and John GP across 900 years. Their conversation charts a similar trajectory from individual clown entertainers to community jesters for social justice and health equity.

Their conversation presents readers with an everyday example to put them on full alert that AI risks the very survival of the human species. Rahere and John weigh in on an AI-generated image of John and Patch Adams as clown companions, focusing on the seductive power of AI, and its human-like self-congratulatory response about the “brilliance” of their creation. Identity theft, existential concerns, threats to artist livelihoods, trust in human knowledge creation and research — all are laid bare. The selective use of the “in-betweenness” of AI software accentuates the creativity of real-life photographers, visual artists, and graphic designers.

A unique example of transgenerational jesters mocking AI.