More A.I ranting
Listen... I'm not a luddite. I don't think A.I is the boogeyman, nor do I see it as an inherently evil technology. With that being said, I am also not a big fan of the way it's being used and developed at the moment. Especially in the arts. Whether you like it or not, this is a sector that has been crucial to human progress. It's a field that I love, despite all its flaws, because it provides humans a way to wrestle with the big questions, a way for society to look at itself and question its structures and think of better ways to live. It's objectively the cornerstone of culture. That's a big statement, I know but it's true. Art is primarily an expression of human thought and without it, we lose something that's irreplaceable.
I don't think A.I will replace artist's jobs or even coders (not anytime soon, anyway) but the thinking behind it, feels so brutal. Specially because it's not part of a necessary progress. It kind of says to people in these fields that they don't matter. That what they're doing is in vain and pushes towards a system that completely discards their identities and contributions. This is especially true for countries like Ethiopia, where a pursuit in the arts (no matter what kind) is seen as a "luxury".
But I want to ask, anyone that's supporting A.I generated images, films, music.... what is the point of A.I "art"? It's clearly not just a tool. It can be used as a tool but it's not just that. It's also stealing from actual artist and therefore not exploring new ideas, perspectives or even human thought. Art is also not something that is closed off or has barriers of entry for anyone really. People with disabilities have been making art since the invention of it.
Let's say it even gets to the point of creating stuff that is indistinguishable from human art, what would be the point of it? The biggest appeal behind works of art, is in the process of creating it. For example, have you ever wondered why people are still impressed by the Axum oblesik? The mona lisa? Van Goh's Starry Night? Afework Tekle's Meskel Flower? Because there are details that are still being discovered in the paintings. These are mistakes the artists have intentionally left behind because it added character to their works. These are details left deep inside to let people know who built those monuments and who it was for. All of these stem from human emotions and these speak to us across time. Can A.I do that? Especially when you consider that it, most likely, will never be able to understand what feelings are or develop consciousness. Why would you want this tech?
Then there's the nature of art that some people just don't understand. It's also these very people that have reduced the creative industries to where it is today (at least for Ethiopia). It's a space for collaboration. Recently, I've made my first series project and I met over 150 people (no joke) out of those I made some life long friends like Henock Tefera , Mihiret Worede Hewan Endashaw Abel First-Quao Robel Kiros and more. It was one of the most fulfilling things I've done in my life, despite the fact that it was littered with countless problems and challenges. These people not only put the necessary effort in the scripts we wrote but also did it with full passion and dedication. We fought, we laughed, we cried (fr fr, filmmaking isn't easy) and we shot and delivered 5 films. The BTS footage for the filmmaking surprised and humbled me. This is an experience I'd live through again, not just for my production but for someone else's work (and I've done it 3 times since actually after this, about to do it for a fourth soon) as well. This proved to me that creatives are some of the most humble, hard-working and genuine individuals on this planet. So, the discussions around A.I art, piss me off even more. Where will these people go? These are people that have worked so hard to get to where they are, and replacing them for something as cheap as large language models... come on... this is boring and honestly, inconsiderate.
But, I'm not worried that A.I will replace artists. It can't. What I'm worried about, is the producers, the employers... thinking that it can. This hurts because, I've seen first hand, how people are so dismissive of artists and creators, despite the good that they do. With the advent of this tech, you can see a sense of eagerness to replace artists. This is ridiculous because, it wasn't too long when we experienced a global pandemic. Then, when we were even more uncertain of the future and there was a constant barrage of pessimism, where did we seek comfort? Was it not in music, books, church songs, religious sermons, comic books, anime, movies, tiktok...? All backed by creators, right? How bearable would it have been without them?
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This tech is here and I honestly don't know what the best way forward is, I'm not an expert but every piece of my guts is telling me to fight against it. Even if I'm the only one on this side. Not out of fear for my job but for the potential loss of an asset that has objectively benefited humanity. Without the arts, we lose our way of expressing what ails us, what moves us, what puts us down. This is something that can only be created out of experience and I doubt that an unfeeling algorithm will be able contribute to this part of the human experience.
To end this article on a happy note, I'll use the words of @Adam Connover and Andrew Klavan. Artists will eventually beat A.I art, because I trust in the rebellious nature of the human spirit, that is ever so present in the artist. A sense of "fuck you, I won't you do what you tell me" that is strongest in the artist's mind. This will inspire a bunch of people to come together to create something that doesn't even have a name yet that it'll be so hard to put inside a prompt or be processed by a machine, because that's what humans do. We create, we think and we thrive.
2025, might look bleak for artists, but I know somewhere down the line, somebody somewhere will find a way to preserve what we do, that these tech giants will either have to consider the human element or come crashing down. Brace yourself as we navigate the year, it'll be quite the absurd experience. The only thing I'll promise, is that I'll make the ride as entertaining for me and to anyone joining me on this quest.
P.S:
I use training and process to build people, and strategy to shape spaces.
1 个月I believe that the market for human-made things will always remain, even in the digital context. AI will continue to develop, providing easy solutions to whoever wants to use it, but people will want more. I believe we just can't help but want more, despite AI growing a consumer base. People want to engage with other people. They want to have discussion and a collective activity to participate in. People want story and connection. Our desire to be part of something, and our innate need for socialization, will always keep us connected, and keep us driven to seek these things out. YouTube. Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. Every major development in digital socialization is founded on the fact that we want to speak and be heard. We want to co-create. We want community. As a creator, my goal is to simply create solutions and products that add value to people's lives, and put them at the center. Things like The Fold Initiative are a way to do that. People will always appreciate being shown they matter—because they do. And as solutions and products driven by the goal of connecting humans are pushed to the public, the more people will simply experience the difference and choose for themselves.