AI
Artificial and Incompetent
Soulless
Unplug it
Let it wither away and die
Discussion
I'm curious for you to expand on this. I see AI as a tool just like a hammer. A hammer is soulless. It doesn't care if it's framing a house or bludgeoning an innocent persons head. Simple analogy, and I know there's a lot to unpack with AI. Just wanted to hear a bit more about why you think this way.
I hear what you're saying, and I'm not sure I can articulate it well enough yet. We don't ask hammers to do the work of design, of finish work. Art, craftsmanship, is an expression of soul, of curiosity, invention, exploration--of creation. We don't ask hammers to create. A hammer is purely an instrument. It makes no "choices" of its own accord. A chisel doesn't decide on its own the exact angle of an arched eyebrow, or the slow curve of a female's lower back--the sculptor does this.
We also don't ask hammers questions, and lend them some level of credibility that it's actually good, precise, or properly nuanced answer.
There is some aspect of man as a unique, soul-expressing, sub-creator that seems to be cheapened when we "computerize" it.
Call me a #luddite if you will, but I find it...somehow...unnatural..."too" artificial, even "plastic" if that makes sense.
I think a TL;DR might be: humans alone are the artisans. Let the machines do machine things, and let the humans do the art.
...either way, I appreciate you challenging me to try to articulate it. 🤙🏼
First off thanks for the reply. I really don't think you a Luddite. If you're here, you're smart and you judiciously accept technological advancement. I, for example, have a concern that people are going to look to AI for moral guidance, which is a disastrous concept worthy of a much larger conversation. But for a long time, people looked for moral guidance from the relative position of planets (also with disastrous results). False gods are abundant, but AI could really be a doozy to contend with. We dealt with a golden calf, and we can deal with this too...
As for the artistic merit of AI outputs, I have a couple takes:
The first is that everyone likes better looking stuff around them. Dorm rooms used to have milk crate tables and the like, then IKEA came along and we have "lack" tables. Everyone can tell at a glance that they're shit, but they're also nicer looking than crates, so hooray. With AI powered aesthetics, I think people are always going to want better looking stuff, but also have a sense of what is "cheap" because there's a lot of it and we're amazing at quickly evaluating quality.
The second is that there will be human artistic work bolstered by AI, which is where I see it as a tool. At every level of technological development, people have used the tools available to create the most densely communicative things they can. Automating parts of that process will open up whole realms of actual creativity. Sure there is the initial tidal wave of "stunning" imagery, but people get fatigued and want something that connects in a human way.
In any case, the general public will be well served with reminders that AI is not making *choices* in the same way they do. It is making guesses about what they want, and it is a VERY good guesser.
I find a lot to agree with in this. And well said. Thank you.