A personal reflection

In the past few weeks, AI has thrown the online world into upheaval. People are excited about getting instant products, further allowing them easy gratification. Artists are frustrated at the lack of respect for their art and labor. Debates have run amok, from digital artists all the way to writers. And, recently, AI has started to infiltrate the music scene. 

As a writer, it’s disheartening to see people turn toward machines to get a piece of work within minutes. People take years to master their craft—whether that’s learning techniques and styles, learning the rules in order to break them, etc—only for a machine to come and scan all those pieces of work—most without permission from the artist or creator—to continue spitting out different iterations without the proper care and quality that a person brings in. 

This is in no way slandering the work that an AI can do. In fact, I find it incredible that a machine can do all of that. The problem comes with the ethics of it all—have these AI companies gotten permission from the artists and creators to scan and duplicate their styles and techniques for further use? What does it mean when it comes to copyright? 

When AI was starting out, I was immediately intrigued as any other. I remember an app trending online, and people would make little prompts for you to fill in and see what image the AI could give you. The styles weren’t many, the art wasn’t detailed or all that great, but it was fun to see what this little program could do with a few words. 

Then more apps started popping up. 

The concept got big. Popular. Photo editors I’ve used for years turned to this new idea, having a shiny new option to use AI for new art, some even having an option to turn existing photos into any art style—portraits, cartoons, and more. 

Everything came to a halt when I tried out the AI option on a photo editor and the image came out with a botched signature at the bottom. My heart shriveled up in my chest as I realized that was from an actual artist’s work, taken for this AI to use and distort for their own gain. 

I exited out of the app. 

Not even a week later, the debates started up online. Artists shouting into the online void for justice and respect for their work. People were stealing their creations, using it to feed the AIs. 

You’d think people wouldn’t defend this type of behavior. And yet, some did. They called the AIs innovative, a new age. People that have always wanted to make art could now do so, and felt like artists were taking away their opportunities, their fun. 

Then writing AIs started gaining traction. People can now type in a few commands and get mounds of text, copywriting or even creative writing. That photo editor I had stopped using? They also had it.

Not long after, people were using AI to make their favorite singers “sing” other songs. It felt like a slow infiltration into the music industry, though I’m not sure how far they can take it before big artists do something about it. 

The technology behind AIs is amazing. No one can deny that. (Disregarding the weird proportions in images and the like…) It’s simply disappointing to see people brush off artists and creators for their hard work and treat them like they’re disposable. 

I’m not sure how far this AI business can go. At times I feel like this may overtake all artists and creators until every piece of media we see is AI. Other times, I feel like us creators will fight against this, urging AI to be used in a more ethical way without disrespecting and stealing from artists. 

In the end, please support artists and creators any way you can. They can never be replaced by a machine.