On Generative AI

I feel that generative AI conditions us to believe that making art is effortless, that a beautiful object, be it photograph, poetry, or prose, can be created simply by crafting a prompt.

AI models are trained using a large amount of material. How was all this material made? Through the effors of billions of humans over thousands of years. The model simply regurgitates parts of these works. The effort put into making the original material is hidden.

Many AI users seem to be people who don't want to put effort into making things. As viznut puts it:

> This "prompt'n'pray" kind of interface is particularly alienating to those who want to affect what's going on and to have control over the result. But not as alienating to the boss types who are more into giving orders than actually doing things. Just look at who are the most vocal advocates of "prompt'n'pray" services on social media.

http://viznut.fi/texts-en/machine_learning_rant.html

I also believe that people who use AI should be made aware of how much effort it takes to create art, but I'm not sure if this line of thought is fully justified though. Has society taught us to fetishize hardwork?

Further Thought

I want to compare generative AI with other groundbreaking technologies of the past, such as the steam locomotive, the telephone, the airplane, or the computer. Did people consider them immoral?

Apparently, when the steam train was invented, there were fears about the breakdown of social and geographical hierarchies, and moral standards. People saw the train as a symbol of man's hubris, defying natural order. Is AI scepticism similar?

viznut also writes about the concept of 'Intelligence Amplification'. It's my first time hearing about it, but I feel that it's a good goal to work towards. AI as a 'bicycle for the mind' is a concept I'm more comfortable with.

Non-Generative AI

We have been using machine learning for image tagging, recommendation algorithms, ad targeting, etc., but such usecases are less controversial than generative AI. Why?