Is A.I. the looming threat?

One of my more recent posts was a picture I ran through an A.I. filter to modify its color and style. I liked the result so much that I decided to keep it and post it here on the site. I mentioned I would post more on how A.I. affects the world of creators and how I feel about transitioning into a world where A.I. will be everywhere. Today is that day, or one of them, because I am sure the future will bring so much more to the debate.

Although we really haven't created real A.I. yet, we are closer every day, and that brings me a little bit of concern. I find myself arguing about where the world is going. As far as A.I. is concerned, all of us seem to embrace it no matter how many warnings there are. No matter how many times we see The Terminator or IRobot. 

This is a difficult subject to tackle. On one side of the coin, there is a better life for all of us. A.I. means better health, self-driving cars, more security, etc- a world of more possibilities. On the other side of that same coin is a post-apocalyptic world of endless suffering as we are slowly eradicated from the world because we are no longer useful, and an A.I. might see us as a problem to solve if you get my drift?

For any of you creators out there that have messed with "ChatGPT", you might know of the looming problem I speak about. Problems, plural, because it brings some very real quandaries to the diner table. Let's start with the least annoying problem and work our way up to high octane, that way the fire can cook our food through and through, as it should. Then we can all hate ourselves for eating too much. 

The first problem is the marketplace. Case in point, the "NFT" craze last year, that's 2022 for any of you future-bots reading this from the downward spiral that is our future. Many of us knew NFTs were kind of dumb, especially those of us who knew what they were; a receipt showing someone spent money on something, somewhere in the digital space and its corresponding URL. In other words, a bit of information showing you owned a slice of the "magical blockchain". For the most part, they're still worthless, no matter how much of uncle Jim's fortune you spent on that "Bored Ape". The problem is, and some of you out there experienced this, your art was stolen and made into NFTs. Then A.I. was used to modify it and make changes to the art so it could be sold multiple times as a modified original. In fact, some NFTs were direct AI rip-offs. Now, while this is annoying, it was and is not the end of the art world- just hemorrhoid on its bot-hole. Thankfully, most of the market woke up. This brings me to another, more difficult, and somewhat harder-to-address situation. 

This one gets into the ins and outs of how an A.I. creates art. In short, A.I. studies all our styles, styles that we have spent years honing, and then duplicates them. That's right, most A.I.-generated art is an amalgamation of all of your artwork, and styles. This in and of itself is not illegal, yet. However, it is creepy. It's kind of like that blind guy who hangs out in a trenchcoat by the brail academy. What's he doing there? Who is he and what does he want? Turns out, he's not really blind, he's just trying to pick up on and use all the hot blind girls who study there. A.I. works kind of like that. The A.I. hangs out all over the internet waiting for someone to post some new art, then it studies it, catalogs it, and mimics it. The debate about whether this is theft is still out. The consensus is that there is an element of thievery in it, but how to classify it, to say the least, is difficult. 

The issue I have with it is this; it took me years to develop my style, hours and hours of complex experimentation, and frustration. Creating and destroying hundreds of works until something cemented in the way I create what is inside my head. An A.I. can replicate that style and facsimile it in no time. It can then be used in our steed. The jury is still out as to whether or not there will be some protection for us artists. 

This last one is a different kind of worry and concern. It's much more simple. As of now, I can still make art that is on par with an A.I., even if it takes me longer. In a world where someone can prompt an A.I. and get something in a fraction of time, commercialize it, package it, replicate it, and sell it, just where will human-made art fall? Is it even art if the human part is removed? To me, it feels like the soul of art is being removed with this approach. Now, if someone made a robot that worked through its life and experiences and evolved into a sentient being, then made some art based on the sum of its being, I would be on board for that... It's Data from Star Trek the Next Generation. I am talking about Data from Star Trek, one of the only damn sentient robots who earned my respect through more than six seasons of shows and died somewhere in that mess. He can have my respect because he damn well earned it.

I do not have the answers at this time, and I worry a little about where we are going with this. It's a subject that I plan to revisit as I move into the future with not only my art but also my writing and other works. It will be a part of my future, one way or another- at least I think it will. We shall see. I hope you all keep creating and fighting the good fight.

Cheers!