The Generative AI Dystopian Hellscape
Every person is a universe. So much so, I don’t enjoy small talk because surface level conversations bore me. (adhd) I want to know how a person really thinks, what they really love. Not what they tell others, but what really goes in their mind when no one is around.
I love talking to people one on one and meeting them on their mental plane. Having adhd, means that I have a learning disability but I don’t think of it that way. I just have many questions that need answering before I can fully understand something to the point that I can talk about it with confidence.
As adults, so few of us ever actually say whats truly on our minds so art has always been the gateway to understanding the human experience on a much deeper level outside of ourselves. Because of this, all art is subjectional because as humans, we all experience and see things differently.
If five artist had to draw the same apple, every drawing would be unique and would reflect the artist’s choices. Because it’s a form of human expression, anything can be viewed as art so long as someone declared it to be so and took responsibility for it.
Everyone is so unique that I’ve always used art as form of escapism. If I need a quick vacation, all I have to do is watch a movie, read a book, listen to music, learn a skill, the options are endless.
Insert Generative AI or machine learning for the nerds in the back.
A process that takes preexisting content and regurgitates it with other preexisting content while adding subtle changes to meet the end users desired preference.
I didn’t mind it at first, I even played with it for awhile. Thinking of it as a harmless toy, but now it has integrated itself into every part of human culture and I fucking hate it!
Unless you train it with your personal work all generative ai outputs are stolen from whoever created the original content. It’s a fancy form of theft, packaged as a tool for connivence even though it requires so much energy that it consumes around 5 million gallons of water a day. (the water is evaporated to cool the machines or something like, who cares)
Artist haven’t been financially rewarded for the art that was fed into these machines and the same artist who’s art was used to generate these abominations now face job loss and work disappearing as more people begin to utilize these stolen art regurgitation machines.
This effects the music industry and all forms of art from movies, animation, and just basic graphic design.
A person who generates something, can not explain what went into it’s creation because they didn’t create anything!
It’s a soulless, vapid, vanity driven tool for lazy people. When I see ai generated images, I’m reminded of all the times people have stolen my work and taken credit for it. I think about the years I’ve spent in art school studying the fundamentals and the emotional roller coasters of class critiques. What was it all for?
When I see generative art, I want to scream, “What did you sacrifice to do this?!” How long did you practice, how long did you train, show me your earlier work. How did you earn this?!
I hate generative ai so much, I refuse to use it in my workflow. From the keyframes, to purchasing music, to hand drawing every aspect and going through the painstaking process of working on something for months at at time just to be ignored in 5 seconds and not jumping off a cliff as a result!
I feel like I’m living in a digital zombie apocalypse and I’m constantly running from shelter to shelter.
Unfortunately, no matter how much artist protest. No matter how loud they kick and scream. Generative ai is here and will be here, possibly forever.
A new generation of potential artist are throwing it all away because the allure of connivence is here.
I salute all of the digital artist who continue to create new work even though they know someone will steal it at some point or another. You have to be crazy as hell to share art in the new hellscape but luckily I fit that description.
Thanks for reading.
