Quite a few concepts to discuss here. Fast forward to the future where all "jobs" are performed by robots.
Who's going to own those robots? And what is the point of having them if the general populace can't afford to buy whatever they produce? In the absence of some kind of universal income scheme, this would tend to be self-balancing.
As for AI replacing artists, writers, musicians, etc I believe this also would eventually balance out. There are people who like paintings of Elvis on velvet and people who like the old masters. If Average Joe wants his art produced by AI, he has to be pretty clear on what he wants to see, and how many Average Joes can articulate that? I'm pretty good at articulating, but I can't get AI to produce anything close to what I'm asking for.
According to a post I read recently, instead of learning from new material, AI is currently cannibalizing what it has already done, chewing up and regurgitating its previous attempts. You can experience this for yourself using the "generate image" button in Substack posts. Write out a decent prompt, see what you get, repeat the prompt and see if it's any better.
Finally, even if AI gets insanely good at creating, I'm sure there will always be a certain cachet to owning original art of whatever kind.
Yes I've seen that, and in a yet-to-be-released post (but present in some tweets I launched into cyberspace) I've called it THE NEW AGE OF INBRED LITERATURE. I've got a short story about it as well, but I don't like it so I've not published it yet...
You're spot on with it cannibalizing its own content. I saw some AI dudes complaining they need more 'original' content fed into it, which is essentially admitting the machine is no more intelligent than a blender, and no less messy.
I will admit that about 4 months back, I was in the camp of people who was worried he might be replaced by AI. But after a few reviews, conversations, and trying to use AI myself, I realised that whatever glitch in the system permits human ingenuity won't be replicated any time soon.
And even if it is, we are spiritual beings. A great many people will buy handmade art simply because it is handmade, and will tolerate any quirks that come with it. An example being in the Lego community, we sometimes 3D print resin models of things that are otherwise too expensive, or don't yet exist. Buyers know that these parts are perhaps more fragile than the real thing, but they're useful, or at least decorative!
You've made a really good point about average joes. I tried to walk around that issue softly here but it does need to be said that not everyone is articulate as the people who will be able to wrangle an AI into doing something worthwhile, but how worthwhile is it if its limitation is hard set by what human things are already fed into it?
The era of spaceships designed by AI is perhaps centuries away, and, if we consider a story is sort of a spaceship for the mind, I think I'm safe for a while.
"Maybe as a society we should raise the bottom line from homelessness to something slightly better, considering the vast leaps in technology we've been through. Imagine a world where, if you lose your job, you don’t have to explain to your children they need to skip meals.
Imagine a world where people going through crises don’t wind up on the streets."
Sounds nice but if it's in CBDC Biden bucks that can't be spent on guns or fossil fuels, I'll pass thanks, I'd rather live in a tent with my dog in the woods, than a "15 minute city."
I know nothing of these Biden Bucks, but any good utopia wouldn't stop you from defending yourself as and when needed. In my utopia your rights to buy a gun as an American won't be impinged, the only functional difference is anyone without the money for a gun or food or shelter will be given at least the second two things as standard.
I am not talking about your utopia, I am talking about what a UBI would look like in the U.S., Canada, Australia and much of Europe in the current political climate.
I love your thoughts on this topic. Thanks for your insight.
Thanks Verena, it's a strange topic to think about in this way, considering I was entrenched in the fictional version of it until a few months back.
Quite a few concepts to discuss here. Fast forward to the future where all "jobs" are performed by robots.
Who's going to own those robots? And what is the point of having them if the general populace can't afford to buy whatever they produce? In the absence of some kind of universal income scheme, this would tend to be self-balancing.
As for AI replacing artists, writers, musicians, etc I believe this also would eventually balance out. There are people who like paintings of Elvis on velvet and people who like the old masters. If Average Joe wants his art produced by AI, he has to be pretty clear on what he wants to see, and how many Average Joes can articulate that? I'm pretty good at articulating, but I can't get AI to produce anything close to what I'm asking for.
According to a post I read recently, instead of learning from new material, AI is currently cannibalizing what it has already done, chewing up and regurgitating its previous attempts. You can experience this for yourself using the "generate image" button in Substack posts. Write out a decent prompt, see what you get, repeat the prompt and see if it's any better.
Finally, even if AI gets insanely good at creating, I'm sure there will always be a certain cachet to owning original art of whatever kind.
Yes I've seen that, and in a yet-to-be-released post (but present in some tweets I launched into cyberspace) I've called it THE NEW AGE OF INBRED LITERATURE. I've got a short story about it as well, but I don't like it so I've not published it yet...
You're spot on with it cannibalizing its own content. I saw some AI dudes complaining they need more 'original' content fed into it, which is essentially admitting the machine is no more intelligent than a blender, and no less messy.
I will admit that about 4 months back, I was in the camp of people who was worried he might be replaced by AI. But after a few reviews, conversations, and trying to use AI myself, I realised that whatever glitch in the system permits human ingenuity won't be replicated any time soon.
And even if it is, we are spiritual beings. A great many people will buy handmade art simply because it is handmade, and will tolerate any quirks that come with it. An example being in the Lego community, we sometimes 3D print resin models of things that are otherwise too expensive, or don't yet exist. Buyers know that these parts are perhaps more fragile than the real thing, but they're useful, or at least decorative!
You've made a really good point about average joes. I tried to walk around that issue softly here but it does need to be said that not everyone is articulate as the people who will be able to wrangle an AI into doing something worthwhile, but how worthwhile is it if its limitation is hard set by what human things are already fed into it?
The era of spaceships designed by AI is perhaps centuries away, and, if we consider a story is sort of a spaceship for the mind, I think I'm safe for a while.
I'm much better at writing to prompts, anyway ;)
"Maybe as a society we should raise the bottom line from homelessness to something slightly better, considering the vast leaps in technology we've been through. Imagine a world where, if you lose your job, you don’t have to explain to your children they need to skip meals.
Imagine a world where people going through crises don’t wind up on the streets."
Sounds nice but if it's in CBDC Biden bucks that can't be spent on guns or fossil fuels, I'll pass thanks, I'd rather live in a tent with my dog in the woods, than a "15 minute city."
I know nothing of these Biden Bucks, but any good utopia wouldn't stop you from defending yourself as and when needed. In my utopia your rights to buy a gun as an American won't be impinged, the only functional difference is anyone without the money for a gun or food or shelter will be given at least the second two things as standard.
I am not talking about your utopia, I am talking about what a UBI would look like in the U.S., Canada, Australia and much of Europe in the current political climate.
Oh yes it won't work the way things are