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I've been having similar thoughts on this subject. I don't agree with 100% of your takes... but I'm also concerned about where this is going. It kind of reminds me of crochet vs knitted pieces in a way. Crochet cannot be done by machine whereas knit obviously can. But both have so much value when lovingly crafted by human hands.

I'm also concerned about everything online becoming unverifiable, and AI flooding every site / search machine with slop (which is already happening). Tricky and nuanced subject.

Tbh, AI is just one of the symptons of late stage capitalism, even if AI wasn't a thing, shit had already hit the fan years ago. AI is just being used to replace people in sweatshops (mind you, not 100% yet because they still are still incapable of not producing slop)

Also, I don't agree with the AI thing being indistinguishable from an actual human made art, 9.99 out of 10, AI art will be slop, maybe, high quality slop, still SLOP. AI art is just aalgorithms consuming and regurgitating art that already exists. you can pretty much and I kid you not distinguish art made by AI to art made by a human. at least if you are a artist yourself.

Mega corporations will use whatever slop they can get to get those few cents of profit tho, it doesn't even need to look good. so looking realistic or passable isn't even a problem

@amy I'm aware of that and while it's true that it's a cause for concern, search engines being flooded with slop has been a thing since SEO's been a thing (obligatory thanks g**gle for ruining the internet), and the damage can't be repaired. That's why I didn't mention it.

@ongezell I'm not sure if it's 100% distinguishable. Yes, slop is slop no matter what, but with some slight taste you CAN generate stuff that looks legit. It's fortunate that most people who generate art aren't artists, and most importantly, have no taste.

@ongezell but here's the thing: most people aren't artists, so slop WILL end up winning out as it becomes easier to produce and especially more profitable to produce. "Consumers" don't care as long as it looks alright, and no creator will want or be able to compete against the endless, almost oppresive amount of slop! Unless... they prevail?

@ongezell then again I only have in mind people who do art for a living. Hobbyists will just keep on truckin no matter what since they don't depend on it.

My point is, AI is a symptom not a cause. I don't actually believe AI is that much of a threat to Us, the threat is in the hands of those developing it. I honestly don't see AI endangering us more than any of the existing average suspects (mega corporations) that being said I honestly don't believe AI will get better than this too honestly.

If you take a notice on all the AI technology being produced, it's honestly just a fancy search engine at best and even then it can get pretty bad, just look at google and chat gpt with their products. ChatGPT is hot garbage when it comes to anything that is actually just a little bit complicated, gemini? lmao Not to mention the amount of energy this shit consumes

I don't know how to describe it but everything about AI is just so pathetic to me it doesn't even makes me worried.

I do agree AI is a symptom of this lovely anti-human illness we have as a society. As for generative AIs being crap, I would tread with care. There's no way that what they show us is the best there is. Oh, also, I didn't want to mention the energy usage argument because it's always tackled to the end as an afterthought, never the main argument against this stuff.

You may have erred in assuming that one of several functional corollaries fatalistically determines an essence of technology. We can't know whether AI is a truly effective succedaneum for human intelligence until it produces genuinely substantive works. At present, its imitative faculties are superficially applied without any profundity of style or substance.

Ongezell observes that most AI is slop; I'd contend that one of many reasons why is that those who opt to use it professionally (whether mendaciously or otherwise) are perforce uninspired. It's an easy means. I'll always collaborate with human artists because no AI can illustrate my stories satisfactorily. In that regard, I am by no means special.

@rbuchanan you're right in that my wording implies that I determine the essence of technology from AI; this is not so. I meant it more generally; AI is not the first or the last in a long series of anti-human technologies. As ongezell mentioned, AI is just another symptom, but not the cause.