Source (Bluesky)
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01: A girl labeled ‘Artists’ is holding a drawing tablet and pen under her arm. She is wearing round glasses and a blue sweatshirt. She has messy dark-brown hair and a brown skin-tone. She says “We don’t really wanna MAKE A.I. art.”
02: A guy labeled ‘Art Enjoyers’ holds his hand out while speaking. She is wearing a purple and yellow hawaiian shirt with a floral pattern over a white t-shirt, and has red hair and a light skin-tone. He says “We don’t really wanna SEE A.I. art.”
03: Behind them both, there is a cute girl in a business suit with a pink tie. She is blushing a bit and has pink eyeshadow, and looks upset. Her messy shoulder-length hair is parted in the middle, and held by two hairclips: one that looks like a red arrow pointing down, and one that looks like a green arrow pointing up. She says “Um … I-Isn’t there someone you forgot to ask?” She is labeled ‘Shareholders’.
04: She puffs up her cheeks and pouts, a tear is on the verge of falling from one of her eyes. ‘Artist Enjoyers’ Guy is now in front of her yelling “AH!! SHAREHOLDERS-CHAN!!” while ‘Artists’ Girl is in front of her yelling “WE’RE SORRY WE HURT YOU!!!”
Partially because it’s a tool made by stealing other’s work. AI exists today because hundreds of thousands of artists and writers and real human people did not get compensated for their work. It’s like support Walmart despite it purposefully shutting down small businesses or buying blood diamonds (is that too far?). It’s something made by hurting other people.
I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say “There is no ethical consumption under capitalism” but like it’s not easy. We all are forced to make shortcuts and are forced to be a part of harmful systems. So I wouldn’t judge you if you used AI to generate art, but I would judge you if you pretended it wasn’t unethical and harmful to both the environment and fellow humans.
I think people are particularly up in arms about this topic because the output is, in some instances, so bad or so commercial or so lifeless that it feels like a really poor exchange for taking money away from artists and burning rare materials and energy. Like it’s so easy to NOT do this thing that it feels extra bad when people do it.
I get it, when midjourney first came out I was a huge fan. In fact I think it’s easy to say I love the idea of AI as a tool for quick creative creation. I think it’s incredibly empowering. I just think there isn’t a form of it today that wasn’t created via value extraction from the working class.
Yes. There is a whole discussion about misappropriation, compensation and rights which I weigh heavily on the artists’ side. But in 100 years that problem disappears (for current models and artists).
My main point is that if an artist uses AI in their workflow it doesn’t make their output not art. And as an extension, there is no reason I can’t be that artist.