05/26/23: SIX ITCHY FINGERS

Wary, begrudged, half formed thoughts on AI.

Hey y’all,

Whoo boy, where do I start with this one. Probably with a comic?

To my absolute lack of surprise-- a few people had some TAKES on this comic. Which is honestly… completely fine. Parsing out justifiable concerns from existential terrors is a big enough job to do within myself without the responsibility of working the shovel for anyone else.

And man, Artificial Intelligence is a muddy ditch.

On hopeful days I feel like AI could finally democratize art. That the work of organizations like the WGA is going to help ensure some essential regulation, compensation, and oversight.

But I’ve also seen firsthand that the pretenses of the corporations that employ so many artists are fickle and thin and unchanging. Never expect this frog to fully trust a scorpion who says it just wants to quietly sleep in the backseat.

We are staring into the eyes of a long-term process of growth and upheaval. And as horribly unmooring as that can feel— I find it comforting to know that it’s more or less just the same as it ever was.

Technology has ALWAYS required a response from art. There have been monumental shifts derived from innovations in brushes and paints and canvases. In printmaking and bookbinding. Newspapers and cameras and televisions… and on and on and on.

And while I’m not sure what AI holds for any of us— what I trust down in my bones— is that art has never really been about any kind of clean, quantifiable process or technique or methodology or philosophy.

Art is entanglement.

It’s the world within and without deciding to make war or peace with your discernment. The visible and invisible parts of who you are or want to be wrestling for control of the wheel. The precision of the marks you make, and the thoughts you express— balanced against the impulses and mistakes you can’t control.

(Maybe) you don’t have to load up a metaphorical gun and take aim at the robots. But wherever you fall in the endless debates to come— be protective of the mess inside you.

A computer can be a great shovel, but ultimately it’s up to you to bend your back and do the digging.

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Anyway, if you’d like to buy the humans on a WGA picket line lunch, please consider a donation to:

Entertainmentcommunity.org

(Be sure to select the “Film and TV” option).

More soon…

-j