Hey there, sometimes I see people say that AI art is stealing real artists’ work, but I also saw someone say that AI doesn’t steal anything, does anyone know for sure? Also here’s a twitter thread by Marxist twitter user ‘Professional hog groomer’ talking about AI art: https://x.com/bidetmarxman/status/1905354832774324356
It isn’t that it is an “easy” way to make art, it isn’t “making” art at all. It’s typing stuff into a slot machine hoping to get lucky with a “close enough” picture to what you want. It’s potentially exploitative the same way slot machines are. Would you say that we shouldn’t disparage gambling because it is a shortcut to easy money? I view it in a similar way. Instead of obtaining and improving a skill, actively doing something positive with their free time, people who use AI art are just wasting time pulling the lever on a slot machine. It’s not gatekeeping to want people to enrich their own lives and express themselves creatively, and AI art isn’t that. At best it’s a fun toy that people can distract themselves with, and at worst it can make someone into an addict.
Respectfully, I don’t think telling people that want to generate images of Darth Vader riding a Sloth that they can’t because it doesn’t qualify as true art would be the path forward. AI art will lead to decline a traditional art talent, yes, but I think the massive increase in accessibility and convenience to the masses still easily make it a net positive overall. AI art existing doesn’t totally prevent people from still being to able create art traditionally, while an AI art ban would for the people who enjoy using AI art.
When did I ever call for banning the whole thing? Don’t get me wrong, personally, I’d love if this was banned, as it makes doing my job a lot harder, but I’m looking at it from a societal lens here, not just for my own personal benefit. I think it should be heavily regulated, especially since this current pyramid scheme model they use is going to fuck over a lot of people who have been suckered into “investing” in AI when the bubble bursts.
It’s not about whether it is “real art” or not with regards to regular people, it’s determining whether they’re actually picking up and improving on a skill or hobby, or whether they’ve just chaining themselves to yet another treat machine. Quality of output doesn’t matter when you’re doing something for fun, but a hobby is much better than a quick distraction, it keeps people motivated and can help their self-esteem, something we all need in this increasingly alienated capitalist society.
I’m not telling people that they can’t play with the shiny new toy, I’m telling people that using the shiny new toy doesn’t make them an artist, and using it instead of practicing or learning art will prevent them from ever becoming an artist(not speaking in professional terms here, entirely as a hobby, just for fun), even just doodling on the back of a folder is more self-actualising than playing around with AI art.
And to continue with my slot machine analogy, a lot of people who are addicted to gambling insist that they do it because it is “fun” for them. Does that mean we should just let them do whatever and not try to help them out of an addiction?
I’m not saying someone someone who uses AI once to ask for Elmo high-fiving Superman is an addict or anything, I’m saying that this industry has the potential to become addicting and hazardous to society the same way gambling is. Just because some people can go into a casino, spend $5 and then walk back out, doesn’t mean gambling shouldn’t be regulated. Regulations are there to protect the most vulnerable from predatory industries, and pressing the button on the funny image generator is potentially very addicting, and in turn, potentially very destructive to people’s lives, the same way any addiction can be.
People often call artists like me “luddites” who just “blindly hate the new technology”(Not saying you’re doing that) but I’m looking at this from more than just my own perspective, and I think ultimately, this is something that is only going to make society a worse place, not a better one.
Every “use case” for AI art has either been fucking over workers or assisting scammers and con artists. At best the use case is “silly little distraction.” So I’m really alarmed at the sheer amount of pro-AI art sentiment here, really feels like a lot of people just have major treatbrains with regards to it. Which would make sense with my categorisation of it as addicting.
Ehh I’m not really sure I’m following the gambling comparison. Common sense for most people is that gambling addictions are bad because it actively drains massive amounts of money out of people’s bank accounts, not because slot machines waste people’s time. Addictions are just problem amplifiers rather then problems in of themselves.
Maybe it’s because I’ve had family members waste their lives away on the pokies, neglecting their kids, but there’s a lot more to an addiction than simple “it’s bad because it takes people’s money.” An addiction consumes and ruins a person’s life.
I’m seriously feeling like I jumped into an alternate version of Lemmygrad here or something, why is everyone refusing to consider that this thing being pushed as a massive societal shift under a capitalist society won’t have any ramifications or effects going forward? Even if we take the “gambling is only bad because $$$” approach, what happens when they get people (not everyone, but enough to fund their business) addicted to making AI art, and then start charging more and more for it? The first hit is always free for a reason, it isn’t because drug dealers are just really nice guys. It’s because they know it will create addicts. Obviously drugs have a chemical component that AI (and gambling for that matter) do not, but I seriously feel like this community is completely ignoring how this system will be used under capital, and acting like we’re already living in a socialist paradise and it doesn’t matter how it will be used.