But people said the same thing about photography and painting 150 years ago!

This is entirely different from that. Landscaping had aesthetic value after photography because people were able to embellish and stylize landscapes in ways they didn't actually exist in real life. There is no way to "escape" from AI into more stylization. All it takes is enough of those new stylized images and it'll be able to replicate it. This is different from photography because photography can't learn.

But people want human expression!

Yes, they do, but they'll probably only realize this after a couple decades of art [almost] completely uninspired by the human condition and depression and anxiety skyrockets. In the short term, people will only care that they can type into a field and get what they want without any significant investment. Good luck finding an art job that isn't just making prompts in that economy (And if you say that making prompts is the same as being a painter or illustrator, yes it is art but no it isn't the same and fuck you).

I rest my case, art automation is cool but under capitalism it'll only be used to devalue artists further, and drive them deeper into poverty. It would be a great tool in a society capable of regulating itself but WE DON'T LIVE IN THAT SOCIETY AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO POINT THAT OUT.

STOP LISTENING TO :melon-musk: :debatebro-l: AND SUPPORT YOUR ARTIST COMRADES NOW

Now that I got your attention with my inflammatory statements, please commission your artist comrades and support them in their struggle to exist in what is already a very punishing world to live in. I promise to give any of you that do big hugs, I love you all, and bye.

  • cilantrofellow [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Liv Agar had an interesting point awhile ago related to crypto but I think applies pretty broadly. Often when we fight against capitalist “innovations” knee jerk response is to push against its use as opposed to moving it forward, i.e., using a “yes, and” progression to throw off the “reasonable” stans and win over those on the fence.

    I think this is it: https://livagar.medium.com/cryptocurrency-and-the-end-of-capitalism-1-2-f11db6a4815b

    I read the piece awhile ago and I remember her argument fell flat at times (could have benefited from some more more thought regarding certain aspects of blockchain) but it was a novel take I found merit in. Basically, that socialists should embracingly shape and challenge the applications of emergent technologies for a better world.

    I’m just wondering how AI generation could shift art positively. You still generally need to provide prompts, and based on google everyone knows what you type in matters. I could see new art forms blossom from AI tools that either use it completely or as a component alongside other medias.

    This is already a problem with meme art, but I think one major key will be to make sure we remember the name of the human artist (even if they’re just the one writing the prompts) over the name of the algorithm, and give them a platform to explain and benefit from their creations.