There are literally millions of pieces of art everywhere that are free or basically free to view and in many cases use for whatever your heart desires. This is about not getting exactly the piece of art you want to see created and as it turns out there is another alternative open to those without the money to pay artists.
But now there is a way to get “exactly the piece of art you want to see created” for free with little effort. Are you saying I should just pretend that doesn’t exist?
It’s only a “problem” if you look at it in a vacuum and have already decided there has to be a problem. People have been putting each other out of work throughout all of civilization, not just with technology, sometimes just by thinking of more clever ways to do things. There’s nothing unethical about it, it’s how civilization continually changes. It’s always tough on the people whose work becomes obsolete, but they cope and life goes on.
And how does it benefit artists if I search through those millions of free things instead of using a tool to make exactly what I want? I mean, I also built my own deck, drywalled and painted most of my house, changed the plumbing and wiring, put on roofing… I can’t even think of all the things I’ve done instead of hiring somebody. And I learned it all by imitating professional work. Does that make me evil? Did I “steal” from them? Should I not be allowed to own power tools because they take work away from craftspeople?
When I consider this issue, the analogy looks more like someone has invented a robot to do contractor work. Of course it’s true that it will put many human contractors out of work.
But no, I don’t think using the robot is malicious - it is, after all, hugely convenient. I would love to have access to those kinds of skills without all the trial, effort, and investment it would take for me to pick them up myself.
I could even rationalize it by thinking, why shouldn’t I? Pandora’s box has been opened and my participation won’t make a difference by this point. I may even be right.
I don’t have a whole lot of use for art in May day to day, so it doesn’t cost me much to decide not to use AI for it. When I think of all the atrocities in the world taking place to enable me to live a comfortable North American life up to this point, I find I can live without this one.
I guess I’m trying to make the point that I don’t want to guilt anyone for using AI for this or anything, but I encourage everyone to truly understand the consequences of the technology we’re using and do some self-reflection. Do you have space in your moral convictions for this? Does this cross any of my values? If you can stomach it, go crazy, but do so without blinders.
Well spoken thoughts, but tbh it all feels like moralizing in search of a sin. Or cops arresting you because their gut says you’re guilty of something, they just aren’t sure what. The vast majority of inventions in human history have put somebody out of work, because most inventions produce things people already use, that are already being made by somebody, and the invention competes with them.
The art world participates in that whole continuum. When somebody buys a sketchpad or a tube of paint, they’re using inventions that put people out of work who used to make those items by hand. Those particular transitions happened so long ago nobody thinks about them anymore, but they should if they’re trying to honestly examine the ethics of change.
There are literally millions of pieces of art everywhere that are free or basically free to view and in many cases use for whatever your heart desires. This is about not getting exactly the piece of art you want to see created and as it turns out there is another alternative open to those without the money to pay artists.
But now there is a way to get “exactly the piece of art you want to see created” for free with little effort. Are you saying I should just pretend that doesn’t exist?
I guess it depends on intent.
If you’re just conjuring images for your D&D game with your buddies, so what.
If your intention is monetizing and selling it, then that’s probably a problem.
It’s only a “problem” if you look at it in a vacuum and have already decided there has to be a problem. People have been putting each other out of work throughout all of civilization, not just with technology, sometimes just by thinking of more clever ways to do things. There’s nothing unethical about it, it’s how civilization continually changes. It’s always tough on the people whose work becomes obsolete, but they cope and life goes on.
And how does it benefit artists if I search through those millions of free things instead of using a tool to make exactly what I want? I mean, I also built my own deck, drywalled and painted most of my house, changed the plumbing and wiring, put on roofing… I can’t even think of all the things I’ve done instead of hiring somebody. And I learned it all by imitating professional work. Does that make me evil? Did I “steal” from them? Should I not be allowed to own power tools because they take work away from craftspeople?
When I consider this issue, the analogy looks more like someone has invented a robot to do contractor work. Of course it’s true that it will put many human contractors out of work.
But no, I don’t think using the robot is malicious - it is, after all, hugely convenient. I would love to have access to those kinds of skills without all the trial, effort, and investment it would take for me to pick them up myself.
I could even rationalize it by thinking, why shouldn’t I? Pandora’s box has been opened and my participation won’t make a difference by this point. I may even be right.
I don’t have a whole lot of use for art in May day to day, so it doesn’t cost me much to decide not to use AI for it. When I think of all the atrocities in the world taking place to enable me to live a comfortable North American life up to this point, I find I can live without this one.
I guess I’m trying to make the point that I don’t want to guilt anyone for using AI for this or anything, but I encourage everyone to truly understand the consequences of the technology we’re using and do some self-reflection. Do you have space in your moral convictions for this? Does this cross any of my values? If you can stomach it, go crazy, but do so without blinders.
Well spoken thoughts, but tbh it all feels like moralizing in search of a sin. Or cops arresting you because their gut says you’re guilty of something, they just aren’t sure what. The vast majority of inventions in human history have put somebody out of work, because most inventions produce things people already use, that are already being made by somebody, and the invention competes with them.
The art world participates in that whole continuum. When somebody buys a sketchpad or a tube of paint, they’re using inventions that put people out of work who used to make those items by hand. Those particular transitions happened so long ago nobody thinks about them anymore, but they should if they’re trying to honestly examine the ethics of change.