My A.I. Rant
It hurts that AI is taking away from creative people, artists, musicians or other content creators online. And it's a fact, this is really happening.
What's up folks. Why am I creating this post? 90% of the time I would say it's because I created this website so I would have a place to vent or rant. But this time, it's honestly because my post about my Moo Moo Subaru Adventure was getting off topic, onto this topic! So I thought to make more digestible, I would make this it's own post. Enjoy!
My Personal Take: It hurts that AI is taking away from creative people, artists, musicians or other content creators online. And it's a fact, this is really happening. If you frequent Instagram and follow any artists, there are real people out there talking about this happening to them.
I also consider myself an environmental girlie. It's already painful seeing forests and natural areas being destroyed for development. AI Data Centers trump (pun intended?) regular development, in terms of their massive size, space and resources needed to run.
So, yeah, the environmental impact is huge. These data centers seems to be highly unregulated and are hurting the communities they are built in. Currently, in the US, cities and small towns all over the country are protesting the sudden influx of AI Data Centers attempting to be built.
From: https://www.environmentalhealthproject.org/post/the-dangers-of-data-centers
Data centers create significant local and global challenges, primarily driven by the massive computing power required for modern tech and AI. Their primary negative effects include extreme resource consumption, localized environmental hazards, grid stress, and community disruption
David Ingram
How did we go from not needing AI nor these AI data centers to having so many built or proposed everywhere? It's insane. Even Erin Brockovich is back at it, creating a website for concerned citizens to report about AI centers near them.
https://www.brockovichdatacenter.com/
Personally, I have a lot of talented artist friends and consider myself an artist of sorts. So maybe that is why I am so passionate about this topic. To many their art is their soul and to have something so soulless rob you of your creation, it's heart breaking and you feel helpless against it. I'm about to put some art online I just created. Doesn't feel good. What do I do to protect my art?
Here is what I am talking about. Small businesses online are posting about having their artwork scraped by AI from random companies!
Scraping art online with AI means using automated software to extract digital artworks from websites to train generative artificial intelligence models.
In some cases, this means, the AI is scanning through artwork you may have online and you would think they are only grabbing small bits of data from it, but no. Artists are finding their art being completely ripping off and used to make profit elsewhere. They find their own art being sold without their knowledge or the art placed onto a product being sold, like a t-shirt. Here are some examples I would like to share below.
According to this artist, it's been happening for a long time. :(
https://www.instagram.com/p/DP95y4nCKzj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Another example:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXVUEw2DaXq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I really feel for these creators. 😢
One more piece of news that shocked me was that of the artist Ansel Adams, having his work altered by AI. If you know anything about his art you can understand why he is probably rolling in his grave over this:
Helen Stoilas
One last rant... When you go to a search engine now, the first results you see are the AI results. You read the results in the browser and 90% of people will not click the link, which is the true source of the information. Example: I look up a steak marinade recipe, it shows me the recipe and everything I need right there, but the info came from SuzieBeef&Buttz.com (I made this up, don't blame if there is something really terrible at this address). The person looking for the info never goes to Suzie's website, she doesn't get the traffic, possible communication with the customer or maybe even loses a sale of a product. Yet another way, AI is ruining profit and sales from businesses.
Do I find any positives for AI?
It's all in the details, but yes. I realize this technology do some amazing things. Can it be faster to find information, if it's correct, yes. I'm not an eloquent speaker and I struggle forming words, as you might have guessed by reading my website. So AI can be helpful at making sentences sound better. One significant, positive experience that stands out for me, was when I was trying to get ideas for a garden area re-design. If you have seen my garden makeover post, that is the area i'm talking about! I decided to try to use AI to use a photo of the area and show me what it would look like with various changes, fence, stone walkway, bench. There were some technical hiccups with the AI that was frustrating, but in the end it really helped me get some ideas for this re-design. I'm a very visual person, so seeing it on the screen was so helpful in deciding what direction to go. What I liked about this interaction was that it was using my photo and not others content. This was for personal use, for something I would be creating in real life.
So my final thoughts:
AI is a punk. Does it have potential, yes, with the correct direction. I think it's hurting more than it's helping in it's current state. There is so many more rabbit holes we could go down, with this top, more and more layers to go through, but i'll stop here.
No one likes rules, till they need them. We need them!
- The government needs to create laws that require AI Data Centers to improve their technology so it's impact is smaller on the environment and surrounding areas. Or if that is not available in the short term, at least offer repair or compensation from the damage they are causing.
- Put rules into place that prevents people's identities and private info from being used inappropriately.
- Put rules in place that protect artists rights! I'm talking musicians, artists and many other types of content creators. Hell I didn't even get into AI being used in movies and shows.
Right now it feels like a free for all. With the current Administration, who has been cutting down and literally dismantling all kinds of environmental protections around the US, the AI Data Centers are getting to do whatever they want. This also goes for all the other issues I've brought up. I hope the public keeps speaking up and pushing back. They can instill change!! You can instill change!!
Disclaimer: This post is based on my personal opinion. I am not an expert. I am open to respectful debate, but I am aware I don't know every fact about AI or the Data Centers. I speak from my own experiences and knowledge based on reading various sources online. I have provides link in this post to provide information backing up this opinion.
- As always, thank you if you came to my website at all! Thank you if you took the time to read this wordy post. I appreciate it. 😸
