"We’ve been sold an odd idea; not only are we all supposed to think we can be anything and do anything, we’re also supposed to take as a given that everything should be easy. In this way of thinking anyone can make art, anyone can make music, and it ought to be easy for all of us to do so." This is interesting - I immediately thought of my days in band, growing up around folks who genuinely loved music. Those were the folks you went to and interacted with when you wanted to learn/experience music on a deeper level. "Making" music by using a few AI prompts takes collaboration and mentorship off the table. Part of doing the hard stuff of actually learning isn't just the craft itself, it's also the community that we build around the craft as well
Removing art from human generation does make sense, if the goal is to create an unthinking, easily manipulatable population. Art, like the song you posted at the end, fuels the human struggle. We struggle to make art, to churn our feelings into something other people can experience and connect to, and that in turn inspires people to independent thinking and pushing back against what feels wrong. A complacent society making brainrot on their phone and trying to be the next big thing? Those folks aren't going to form strong community and push back. The crabs in a bucket metaphor is aptly used. Thanks for this essay, I'll be sharing it with the folks in my life who aren't grasping the consequences of all this gen AI nonsense.
Such a good point that we’ve been sold the idea that we could do anything and it should be easy. Seems clear to me these days that the point of is to a) keep us in a state of permanent frustration and pleasure seeking, b) force the idea that ease only comes through tech companies, and c) that output matters more than process.
I spend a lot of time tracing my hunches back to the impact of advertising in general. Remember those infomercials, the absurd people dismayed by inconveniences so minor they don’t merit solutions? I feel like they want us all in that state of mind, they want us all to feel like we just walked into a swarm of gnats.
I think a personal solution to so many “inconveniences” is to withdraw. Do less, schedule less, post less, buy less. Incidentally this produces more time to play with - more time to engage in process, like learning how to play an instrument, or learn the few visible constellations overhead - and fewer opportunities to “need” more profit driven solutions to nominal problems. More or less the moment I gave up on having a “real” career, the moment I gave up on optimizing my life, the moment I gave up on allowing inconvenience to dominate my life so much that I was eaten alive by the reckless pursuit of pretend solutions, you know what suddenly came with real ease? Learning how to play music.
Seems to me that AI music isn't as much "slop" as it is STOLEN. Tech has taken the music of tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of musicians who worked hard and struggled to give us music - because they loved doing it. Then Tech has used AI and this stolen effort and mastery to now mix it up and sell us back something that avoids copyright laws and keeps us distracted from what they're doing a while longer. But if tech had had to pay a reasonable sum to each artist they stole from, AI music would never have happened in the first place.
AI is a poison apple. Everything is "creates" is STOLEN from real artists, musicians, writers, etc. Everything. That's how the LLM were trained. They have deliberately made it attractive, and have tried to hide the devastating effect it has on water and power usage. Whether you believe in climate change or not, this is definitely a very tangible threat to humanity in and of itself. The other nasty part the billionaires are not telling you is if they can worm it into every day life they will not only replace your jobs with it, but it will replace YOU, as in many (not rich) people will die. There is a reason Elon Musk calls humans bioloaders for his AI. He literally aims to kill off what he considers to be superfluous parts of humanity. But hey, death has never been sexier, right?
I know two older women who love to write with copilot. They both feel less alone, like the AI meshes with their thoughts and understands them. Writing becomes less lonely for them. I am sad about this. I think writing is ‘alone’ work and it is naturally hard. So I agree with what you say about struggle and growth
I highly suggest folks who are into narrative video games play or watch someone play Detroit Become Human. It is a glimpse into the future we are stumbling towards - AI androids being beaten and repaired, AI music winning grammys, climate change pushing the USA to build a high speed rail ala Japan to allow professionals to live in the midwest but work on an eroding and polluted coast etc
"We’ve been sold an odd idea; not only are we all supposed to think we can be anything and do anything, we’re also supposed to take as a given that everything should be easy. In this way of thinking anyone can make art, anyone can make music, and it ought to be easy for all of us to do so." This is interesting - I immediately thought of my days in band, growing up around folks who genuinely loved music. Those were the folks you went to and interacted with when you wanted to learn/experience music on a deeper level. "Making" music by using a few AI prompts takes collaboration and mentorship off the table. Part of doing the hard stuff of actually learning isn't just the craft itself, it's also the community that we build around the craft as well
Removing art from human generation does make sense, if the goal is to create an unthinking, easily manipulatable population. Art, like the song you posted at the end, fuels the human struggle. We struggle to make art, to churn our feelings into something other people can experience and connect to, and that in turn inspires people to independent thinking and pushing back against what feels wrong. A complacent society making brainrot on their phone and trying to be the next big thing? Those folks aren't going to form strong community and push back. The crabs in a bucket metaphor is aptly used. Thanks for this essay, I'll be sharing it with the folks in my life who aren't grasping the consequences of all this gen AI nonsense.
Such a good point that we’ve been sold the idea that we could do anything and it should be easy. Seems clear to me these days that the point of is to a) keep us in a state of permanent frustration and pleasure seeking, b) force the idea that ease only comes through tech companies, and c) that output matters more than process.
I spend a lot of time tracing my hunches back to the impact of advertising in general. Remember those infomercials, the absurd people dismayed by inconveniences so minor they don’t merit solutions? I feel like they want us all in that state of mind, they want us all to feel like we just walked into a swarm of gnats.
I think a personal solution to so many “inconveniences” is to withdraw. Do less, schedule less, post less, buy less. Incidentally this produces more time to play with - more time to engage in process, like learning how to play an instrument, or learn the few visible constellations overhead - and fewer opportunities to “need” more profit driven solutions to nominal problems. More or less the moment I gave up on having a “real” career, the moment I gave up on optimizing my life, the moment I gave up on allowing inconvenience to dominate my life so much that I was eaten alive by the reckless pursuit of pretend solutions, you know what suddenly came with real ease? Learning how to play music.
Seriously!
Seems to me that AI music isn't as much "slop" as it is STOLEN. Tech has taken the music of tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of musicians who worked hard and struggled to give us music - because they loved doing it. Then Tech has used AI and this stolen effort and mastery to now mix it up and sell us back something that avoids copyright laws and keeps us distracted from what they're doing a while longer. But if tech had had to pay a reasonable sum to each artist they stole from, AI music would never have happened in the first place.
AI is a poison apple. Everything is "creates" is STOLEN from real artists, musicians, writers, etc. Everything. That's how the LLM were trained. They have deliberately made it attractive, and have tried to hide the devastating effect it has on water and power usage. Whether you believe in climate change or not, this is definitely a very tangible threat to humanity in and of itself. The other nasty part the billionaires are not telling you is if they can worm it into every day life they will not only replace your jobs with it, but it will replace YOU, as in many (not rich) people will die. There is a reason Elon Musk calls humans bioloaders for his AI. He literally aims to kill off what he considers to be superfluous parts of humanity. But hey, death has never been sexier, right?
I know two older women who love to write with copilot. They both feel less alone, like the AI meshes with their thoughts and understands them. Writing becomes less lonely for them. I am sad about this. I think writing is ‘alone’ work and it is naturally hard. So I agree with what you say about struggle and growth
Love you
I highly suggest folks who are into narrative video games play or watch someone play Detroit Become Human. It is a glimpse into the future we are stumbling towards - AI androids being beaten and repaired, AI music winning grammys, climate change pushing the USA to build a high speed rail ala Japan to allow professionals to live in the midwest but work on an eroding and polluted coast etc
I agree. AI art is soulless, and I want no part of it.