I think that one of the most seductive aspects of AI assisted art or writing is that it is very easy to start to believe that you really created the visual image or written piece through the magic of writing prompts that seem to generate something you like and feel proud of. I first ran into this back in 1997 with a program named Bryce. It had the capacity to enable you to easily create "digital landscapes" that you could endlessly diddle around with interactively, and end up with a an amazing fantasy universe that you could never have created without the software.
It was extremely hard not feel on some level like "wow! look what I came up with! I'm really amazing."
I had a similar experience with 3D art programs that enabled you to work on quasi-realistic on-screen manikins whose bodies you could shape and customize, buy clothes and accessories for, and move body parts around for different poses or interactions with other manikins. The more time I invested in fashioning a 3D character, the more it felt like I was the creator of it, even though it all depended on software and different body type models that you could purchase and play with.
Since I was an artist myself and had spent years developing my mind-eye-muscle coordination, where I could envision an image and then draw it on paper, I knew the difference between creating art from scratch and describing an image with word prompts and letting the AI manifest an image in 20 seconds that might have taken me hours to do by hand.
I don't mind people producing AI art, much of which is attractively rendered and gets its message across. But I do think that taking credit for it and thinking that you are its creator is a very slippery slope, potentially leading to confusion between one's skill at writing prompts and one's actual creation of an image.
Part of accomplishment ego inflation arguably will resolve itself in the same and unpleasant way as real inflation (maybe hyperinflation?)—the meaning of being an author will just collapse in value and your friend will eventually feel that loss. Another problem similar to others seen recently in other realms and which have led to some of the most notorious cultural debates of our times is going to come if people come to expect others to validate their status even if it is unconvincing and ultimately fake in a decided and incontrovertible way. I don't want to be glib discussing a real and specific person in this airy and theoretically-oriented way, but I am increasingly convinced one's beliefs are always partially fictional as one's beliefs, people both believe something and don't at the same time. This is overlapping, not "50/50," and operates on multiple levels and in a new way moment-by-moment (maybe I've also been reading way too much Nietzsche and poststructuralist stuff). The nature of pity also comes in, we don't reflect on it that much, but if someone has a close friend who is very religious or into conspiracy theories in a way they just aren't and can't believe in, how much of the relationship towards the friend is just based on seeing that as an eccentricity or way of orienting one's self to the world and not personality-defining? All of these reflection here based on relationships of my own; no need to say more. I can see how AI will turbocharge all of this in a socially and psychologically extreme way, although arguably as with so much of this tech stuff it's an intensification of decidedly modern or even pre-modern human issues
I just scrolled by a post on instagram that was informative and had an interesting point of view, but was obviously written by AI. I commented that I liked what they were sharing, but wished they hadn’t used AI. The tells are so obvious and grating they feel like nails on a chalkboard.
The poster responded that she had spent a lot of time researching, blah blah blah, and therefore was entitled to use AI. But my critique wasn’t about ethics or morality. It was about the fact that it’s grossly obvious and unappealing and undermines all the hard work and research she’s done.
I saw another post about how higher end brands are pivoting towards graphics and artwork that are obviously hand drawn and slightly imperfect. In the end, I think AI slopification will be just one more thing that divides the haves from the have nots, the way poor people eat cheap, chemical-laden processed foods while the elite eat the real stuff that used to be considered peasant food.
I don’t think there’s any use in pointing any of this out to your deluded friend. People in that state only ever get angry when you try to puncture their bubble. But feeding her delusion by playing along certainly isn’t kind either.
what kills me is when AI-generated books don't even bother to use a Creative Commons photograph as the cover visual to look more aesthetically interesting, there are thousands of excellent visuals in the public domain. And I'm not anti-AI [note—I wonder if low-effort AI aesthetics have gone down more easily than they would have because as bad as they can be, they are orders of degree less ungainly than cal arts or corporate memphis, which saturated clip-art and low-rent America 2010-2022)
I had to look up corporate Memphis…ugh, yes, I hated that style. Which in the end, is why I’m not too concerned about AI threatening genuine art. We’ve always had hacks and lemmings and in the end there will always be a solid core of people who long for something genuinely interesting and creative.
I think if she was merely deluded about the merit of self-publishing a book on Amazon, I'd just think she was merely lying to herself, but going to the effort of fabricating all the extra stuff with AI is a calculated deception and shows a lack of integrity.
People who see others through the lens of their persona - might actually feel proud of the book publishing - an old guy in Santa Barbara - created his autobiography by answer questions with an AI author... He was so proud to show me his life story. Now we believe frauds are real. How long will it take for AI to be relegated to toys only - --- 5 years - its been 5 years and we all know AIs are not reliable, consistent, or based on facts... Another 5 years and we will value humans again... maybe?
As someone who used to get paid to write and/or "edit" (i.e., rewrite entirely) these books for people in the before-times, I can assure you things have not changed all that much with AI
when does avoiding being self-righteous become enabling? Your friend tells you they’re in love with Claude I don’t think “That’s what you need right now” is the appropriate response.
Well, that's why I think it's a flaw! there's a part of me that's like -- who am i to say they're not getting something out of it? it depends on the friend.
I guess its finding the line between "righteous" action and "self-righteous" action. Instructung the ignorant and admonishing sinners are spiritual acts of mercy in the church for a reason. This may be a time where reaching out is okay
Your posting baby pics to your late father's Facebook made my eyes well up. I'm sorry you don't have your dad to share your children with.
I think that one of the most seductive aspects of AI assisted art or writing is that it is very easy to start to believe that you really created the visual image or written piece through the magic of writing prompts that seem to generate something you like and feel proud of. I first ran into this back in 1997 with a program named Bryce. It had the capacity to enable you to easily create "digital landscapes" that you could endlessly diddle around with interactively, and end up with a an amazing fantasy universe that you could never have created without the software.
It was extremely hard not feel on some level like "wow! look what I came up with! I'm really amazing."
I had a similar experience with 3D art programs that enabled you to work on quasi-realistic on-screen manikins whose bodies you could shape and customize, buy clothes and accessories for, and move body parts around for different poses or interactions with other manikins. The more time I invested in fashioning a 3D character, the more it felt like I was the creator of it, even though it all depended on software and different body type models that you could purchase and play with.
Since I was an artist myself and had spent years developing my mind-eye-muscle coordination, where I could envision an image and then draw it on paper, I knew the difference between creating art from scratch and describing an image with word prompts and letting the AI manifest an image in 20 seconds that might have taken me hours to do by hand.
I don't mind people producing AI art, much of which is attractively rendered and gets its message across. But I do think that taking credit for it and thinking that you are its creator is a very slippery slope, potentially leading to confusion between one's skill at writing prompts and one's actual creation of an image.
OK maybe this wasn't the point of your piece but now I am just dying to know what this book is.
Part of accomplishment ego inflation arguably will resolve itself in the same and unpleasant way as real inflation (maybe hyperinflation?)—the meaning of being an author will just collapse in value and your friend will eventually feel that loss. Another problem similar to others seen recently in other realms and which have led to some of the most notorious cultural debates of our times is going to come if people come to expect others to validate their status even if it is unconvincing and ultimately fake in a decided and incontrovertible way. I don't want to be glib discussing a real and specific person in this airy and theoretically-oriented way, but I am increasingly convinced one's beliefs are always partially fictional as one's beliefs, people both believe something and don't at the same time. This is overlapping, not "50/50," and operates on multiple levels and in a new way moment-by-moment (maybe I've also been reading way too much Nietzsche and poststructuralist stuff). The nature of pity also comes in, we don't reflect on it that much, but if someone has a close friend who is very religious or into conspiracy theories in a way they just aren't and can't believe in, how much of the relationship towards the friend is just based on seeing that as an eccentricity or way of orienting one's self to the world and not personality-defining? All of these reflection here based on relationships of my own; no need to say more. I can see how AI will turbocharge all of this in a socially and psychologically extreme way, although arguably as with so much of this tech stuff it's an intensification of decidedly modern or even pre-modern human issues
I just scrolled by a post on instagram that was informative and had an interesting point of view, but was obviously written by AI. I commented that I liked what they were sharing, but wished they hadn’t used AI. The tells are so obvious and grating they feel like nails on a chalkboard.
The poster responded that she had spent a lot of time researching, blah blah blah, and therefore was entitled to use AI. But my critique wasn’t about ethics or morality. It was about the fact that it’s grossly obvious and unappealing and undermines all the hard work and research she’s done.
I saw another post about how higher end brands are pivoting towards graphics and artwork that are obviously hand drawn and slightly imperfect. In the end, I think AI slopification will be just one more thing that divides the haves from the have nots, the way poor people eat cheap, chemical-laden processed foods while the elite eat the real stuff that used to be considered peasant food.
I don’t think there’s any use in pointing any of this out to your deluded friend. People in that state only ever get angry when you try to puncture their bubble. But feeding her delusion by playing along certainly isn’t kind either.
what kills me is when AI-generated books don't even bother to use a Creative Commons photograph as the cover visual to look more aesthetically interesting, there are thousands of excellent visuals in the public domain. And I'm not anti-AI [note—I wonder if low-effort AI aesthetics have gone down more easily than they would have because as bad as they can be, they are orders of degree less ungainly than cal arts or corporate memphis, which saturated clip-art and low-rent America 2010-2022)
I had to look up corporate Memphis…ugh, yes, I hated that style. Which in the end, is why I’m not too concerned about AI threatening genuine art. We’ve always had hacks and lemmings and in the end there will always be a solid core of people who long for something genuinely interesting and creative.
If someone dresses up as Spider-Man longer than developmentally appropriate isn’t that 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚?
I think if she was merely deluded about the merit of self-publishing a book on Amazon, I'd just think she was merely lying to herself, but going to the effort of fabricating all the extra stuff with AI is a calculated deception and shows a lack of integrity.
Also true. I just wonder what people like that are thinking
People who see others through the lens of their persona - might actually feel proud of the book publishing - an old guy in Santa Barbara - created his autobiography by answer questions with an AI author... He was so proud to show me his life story. Now we believe frauds are real. How long will it take for AI to be relegated to toys only - --- 5 years - its been 5 years and we all know AIs are not reliable, consistent, or based on facts... Another 5 years and we will value humans again... maybe?
As someone who used to get paid to write and/or "edit" (i.e., rewrite entirely) these books for people in the before-times, I can assure you things have not changed all that much with AI
when does avoiding being self-righteous become enabling? Your friend tells you they’re in love with Claude I don’t think “That’s what you need right now” is the appropriate response.
Well, that's why I think it's a flaw! there's a part of me that's like -- who am i to say they're not getting something out of it? it depends on the friend.
I guess its finding the line between "righteous" action and "self-righteous" action. Instructung the ignorant and admonishing sinners are spiritual acts of mercy in the church for a reason. This may be a time where reaching out is okay