AI and self-expression
I really do not like generative AI.
If you had asked me 'why' a month ago, i probably would've given you a number of reasons - It's terrible for the environment, it hurts already struggling artists, it has rapidly accelerated the rate at which you can spread misinformation, the tech CEO's profiting from its use and adoption are some of the worst people currently alive... The list goes on.
However, while i do still believe all of these things to be true, I've realized my fundamental problem with AI only somewhat recently.
It kills self expression.
I've seen people on twitter posting their AI "Movies" or pictures, and at first I just felt mad at them. Pretending they're somehow "sticking it to the man" or whatever by paying megacorporations instead of supporting individuals. "Democratizing Art" - Yeah, right, fuck off.
But honestly? I don't think I can really blame them anymore. I get it, to some extent. Now, I just feel sad. Alright, that might sound a bit condescending, but let me explain.
What is great about art of any kind is that it offers a way for us to share who we are. Every time you create something, you share a piece of yourself with the world.
You might not have read a single one of my blogposts before, but by reading this one you will already have gotten a glimpse into the kind of person I am. You will have a picture of me in your head. An incomplete one, sure, but you'll have one.
What if i used an LLM to write this text? Maybe I would've gotten my point across. Maybe it would have taken less time. But it wouldn't have been me. Because humans are weird, and they make mistakes, and the way they express their ideas says just as much about them as those ideas do.
Using AI you don't get that. Not to the same extent, at least. Because a machine made it for you. You can't learn much about someone from the way a robot interprets "flying dog 4k anime high res". When you look at the result, all you see is a picture generated by some AI tool.
You get the general idea of what the person wanted to convey, but that's it. You don't get to know them. Sure, you can edit it, touch it up. But in the end it you will still be filtered through the perfectly distorted lens of a machine.
Maybe the AI is better than you on a technical level. That shouldn't discourage you from doing it anyways. Not because 'some evil luddite will yell at you if you don't', but because putting yourself out there like that says infnitely more than just letting an AI do it for you.
So, if you're "one of those people" posting AI generated stuff, next time you wanna use AI to make something... Try doing it by yourself. Maybe it won't be exactly what you want. But it'll be just a bit more human. And I think thats pretty cool.