This I think explains why there is huge pushback against AI use in creative fields; ironically, despite having been told for a few years now that AI will replace human artists, novelists, film directors and so on, it seems more likely that these fields are among the few which are not going to be directly threatened. People can be entertained by slop, but people don't love slop, and when it comes to art, people want things they will love. This means they want things that other human beings have created.
It could just be the confirmation bias talking, but I was gladdened to read a number of articles last week (including in the mainstream press) about Games Workshop having banned its staff using AI in content generation or designs, and I see this as indicative of the direction in which we are travelling. Fans of Games Workshop products love them, and they don't want them to be AI-generated. These fans also particularly don't want to have to pay Games Workshop prices for AI content. And they will kick off good style if they discern AI content creeping in.
Games Workshop, like other outfits who want to build a reputation on the basis of quality, know this very well, and so I think do Wizards of the Coast - who have also taken a bold stance in public on this issue. This is not luddism; it is simply a feature of the human condition that most of us prefer things that other human beings have directly made, and in its own way no different from the market behaviour of wealthy people preferring handmade objects to those which are mass-produced.
This all in any case gives a curious cast to the moral landscape of contemporary nerd commerce. Games Workshop is not our friend. But in this respect at least, it is an ally in the fight against Satan's forces. Much the same could be said about Wizards of the Coast. Not our friend. But, in this respect, an ally. All done out of self-centred motives, but nonetheless, not wrong. It's funny how things turn out.
I dunno man. People seem to fucking hate AI in large numbers, which is great, but they never had a problem listening to the inane garbage on the radio. Or more recently, scrolling on their phones while also "watching" TV shows which are in every meaningful sense already slop made by algorithms (they are produced by humans, yes, but humans that are effectively machines by now anyway).
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like basic protectionism to me: we don't want AI because we want to keep our jobs doing photoshop, but we won't learn to paint.
I'm not sure there is entirely fair. I agree lots of people just watch/listen to inane garbage. But is that the same cohort of people who hate AI? I think the only relevant group here is the people who care about such things anyway - the minority who are discerning to begin with. But that's always been true.
Delete"And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
ReplyDeleteAnd if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end."
This is going to be a very unpopular take, but this isn't the 'win' people think it is. I've seen AI pics of space marines with more personality and interesting little details that could make neat conversion fodder and/or fun details to 3d model and print. What good is GW virtue signalling against AI when their non-AI imagery is already dry, sterile, boring, predictable and only depicting either models-as-they-are-sold and/or checking off quotas and checkboxes for shareholders.
ReplyDeleteIts pointless for them to be against AI when their current corporate art has even less of a soul or an original bone left.
But if that's the type of art they are producing now, in what universe are they going to use AI art that looks different from it? If the choice is between not very interesting human art and not very interesting AI art then I admit it is not a great one, but I'd still rather have the former.
DeleteI’ll just echo what everyone else has said: the WotC reference should remind everyone that not all slop is AI slop (insert “Latinx orc family in wheelchairs” illustration). What exactly is this authentic, true representation of the human condition that’s being protected from the soulless machines?
ReplyDeleteSure, but if the design choices are for shit art now, how would shifting to AI remedy that? There will just be soulless dross that is even more soulless.
DeleteFair enough. The stakes just seem so incredibly low that I don’t really get why anyone is exercised about this. Slop is the new normal, AI or no, and AI can be used in many non-slop applications. The two issues seem orthogonal to me.
Delete'You have nothing to lose. EXCEPT YOUR SOUL.'
DeletePeople with no soul can't lose what they never had to begin with.
Delete