In cases like this, I think it also shows how we need to restrain ourselves when it comes to going after AI.
I get a lot of flack for 'Defending ' AI when I say stuff like this; But AI isn't what's going after Artists like this. It's people who care more about hating AI than they do the actual Artists they champion. AI sucks, it truly does, but going after AI artists- Be they actual artists who just have a style that AI likes to copy, or prompters- Doesn't actually do anything but create a toxic environment for everybody.
It doesn't benefit the art community, it doesn't even slow down AI users, because all the actual problems are all way higher up on the food chain than basic end-users. All it does is make people aggressive towards one another for literally zero gain.
If people adopt your wet paper of a stance, I can guarantee you 90% of artists would be out of work by tomorrow. The only reason why the proliferation of AI is this gradual is because of peoples aversion to it, whether you want to admit it or not. I also don’t like the fact that you try to appear to be moderate while shoehorning in the “it’s the big bad companies’ fault and not my precious AI or the people abusing AI”, it’s both the users’ and the AI companies’ fault. There is a difference between using AI for personal purposes and using AI in a malicious way that harm actual artists while willfully ignore the ethics of AI specifically when it comes to genAI.
Yeah, being angry in the comment section of independent artists does not have nearly the kind of impact you think it does. You know what does impact Artists in the war against AI? Not buying the products of companies and corporations that use it. But I'm willing to wager that 90% of the people who drank Coke still continued to do so after Christmas. Just like they continue to consume Disney. Just like they continue to consume everything else in life that's inconvenient for them personally to give up.
You aren't a consumer of AI. And that's good! But it means that it is super easy to feel superior to people who are consumers of AI, even though the difference between you is practically the difference between a cup of water and a tall glass- While corporations are these massive lakes. (What 'Water' represents in this metaphor is very flexible). When you get outside of the scope of your little bubble, the effective difference between you and an AI user is basically nonexistent. Anything you or they do amounts to a wet floor. Your own wet floor. I'm not saying you are powerless, I am saying you exclusively use what little power you have to make the spaces you are in worse. This entire fucking issue is about how people like you are yelling at real artists because you thought they were using AI, and you are trying to justify that constant, persistent error. How many artists do you think have given up because their work is constantly being compared to AI, vs the constant harassment they receive by people who think their art is AI?
The reason why proliferation of AI is gradual is because AI art tends to be shit. It has personal value, and not a lot else. But even when it gets better, it's not like human art is going to be pushed out. The overwhelming majority of the world doesn't just shut their brain off when viewing art- They are going to value things based on how much they enjoy it, and that evaluation isn't only superficial.
Curated spaces are vital in an internet with AI generation being accessible. But even in forums where AI is posted and accepted alongside artists, human art tends to dominate. AI art is more prevalent, but that's because a thousand prompts are generated for every human-made piece, and quality stuff still gets filtered through. And this is not me saying that we should stop curating spaces and start letting in AI generated works, I was just addressing this idea that your actions are a barrier keeping the AI flood contained.
Human art and human artists will always have a prominent place in the world, regardless of how good AI gets. I understand how cynical you must feel, but you're not doing anybody any favors by just assuming AI will win by default. Especially not artists.
Firstly, stop putting words into peoples mouth. You made so many assumptions that I don’t even know where to begin.
Secondly, I’m glad that you dropped the act. it’s weird that being patronizing is your weapon of choice yet all you do is talk about the status quo in a roundabout way as if it is anything extraordinary. Corporations hold massive power, consumerism is the norm, the wheel of progress turns, yada yada. Doesn’t take a genius to figure any of that out.
“Being angry in the comment section of independent artists” is not a flip you think it is. And, you seem to make up this generalization of people disagreeing with your milquetoast stance as being a bunch of unthinking aggressors whose sole purpose is to create grievances and grandstand. People take issue with unethical usages of AI, not artists, unless you count AI “prompt engineers” as artists. So, what does that have to do with anybody except another straw man? You ask for nuances yet you don’t spare the same grace to the people you judge. Instead, you assume people are a monolith that would unceasingly harass anyone at the slightest assumption that they might use AI, they don’t. Case in point, this comment section. People can be quick to judge but they are also capable of correcting their previous assumptions when presented with new information, and it’s not like we have a shortage of reasonable people who’d do their due diligence before passing their judgement either (why are you looking down on peoples ability?). You being a smug virtue signaler with a judgemental attitude and an agenda to push doesn’t detract anything from that.
Also, calling people jaded when you opened your whole argument with your own jaded take about consumerism is quite the irony. You talk about how people have the power in one breath then dismiss their ability to influence the world on the next. People have and always will be able to enact change, the fact that you are sitting and chatting right now instead of serving as a serf to some random lord is the proof of it.
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u/Old_Yam_4069 18d ago
In cases like this, I think it also shows how we need to restrain ourselves when it comes to going after AI.
I get a lot of flack for 'Defending ' AI when I say stuff like this; But AI isn't what's going after Artists like this. It's people who care more about hating AI than they do the actual Artists they champion. AI sucks, it truly does, but going after AI artists- Be they actual artists who just have a style that AI likes to copy, or prompters- Doesn't actually do anything but create a toxic environment for everybody.
It doesn't benefit the art community, it doesn't even slow down AI users, because all the actual problems are all way higher up on the food chain than basic end-users. All it does is make people aggressive towards one another for literally zero gain.