02/24/2024
I'm may alienate some friends with the following words but that’s what Facebook is for. Now read carefully. Here goes:
If you're a musician using AI generated art for your album cover you're taking money from artists by paving the way for the talentless to monetize soulless art. Print, cut it and send tweet.
That's it.
Sorry but your mental gymnastics to justify using an online tool that's proven to a) be trained on existing, copyright protected art made by flesh & blood humans b) deprive same artists the chance to make fantastic art for you and c) requires immense computing power which also takes a proven toll on the environment.
I’m both an illustrator and musician. I’ve been making music for 40 years. But I’m a baby artist really, drawing regularly for the last 8 years or so. I’ve used my own art for my albums. I’m also blessed to be asked to design and create artwork for several albums. It’s a blast to work with musicians and create something from their ideas and mine.
As sure as the lack of a normal winter this year I know that some folks won’t ask me to do their album art but will use AI generated art instead.
Bummer. Truly. Not for me but for you who do this.
Did you know AI generated art can’t be copyrighted? No. Seriously look it up (Aug 21 (Reuters) - A work of art created by artificial intelligence without any human input cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law, a U.S. court in Washington, D.C., has ruled).
So this means I can take the AI generated art you’ve told a computer to make for your album and use it for mine. And there ain’t a god damn thing you can do about it.
Oh you also know AI generated music is a thing? And it’s pretty crappy and soulless like the art but it’s out there. And guess what it’s trained on? Yup. MUSIC made by humans.
Now guess what? I can do the same thing to your music (No doubt a wiseass will do this with mine but it’s to be expected). And I can put it out as my own work and no one can really do much about it.
This AI revolution - which isn’t true Artificial Intelligence, it’s more machine or neural network learning - isn’t driven by cool people wanting to do cool stuff. It’s driven by people who don’t get art but do get that it’s easier to pay for the use of a machine to make some rather than a human.
Let me put it a little plainer: SILICON VALLEY DOUCHEBROS WANT AI GENERATED ART, MUSIC & WRITING SO THEY DON’T HAVE TO PAY HUMANS FOR IT THEREFORE DEPRIVING THEM OF THEIR LIVELIHOOD.
Some of you who’ve stayed this long are still barking so loud I can hear you. So go outside and get some fresh air and face facts. You’re not making cool art: you’re fu***ng your friends. Bigly. Without even a hello or dinner or a movie. Not even a bag of Funyuns.
Now some of you do make AI art for amusement. You’re not the problem. However the moment you put it forth as a public work of art or attached to your work you are in fact now in the ranks of bloodsucking mindless leech. Do you smell and taste copper? Yeah that’s me. I bleed and that’s the smell of my blood.
Don’t get me wrong, though: I love the stuff. Yeah, I do. I’m no technophobe. I love the stuff. It looks weird, flashy, shiny and cool. The images attached to this post are all AI generated. I told DALL-E to make a painting of “The original star trek cast eating a traditional italian meal in the style of the last supper as drawn by Chang Terhune.” And it kinda did that. Woo. And everyone even has the right number of things but the guy in the red shirt is still going to get it (took it 20 seconds by the way. I added the pugs because they’re fu***ng funny).
But if I went to any number of my artist friends and told them to draw the same thing? My god it’d be amazing! I’d have an amazing conversation or two or three and then some incredible art full of human spirit plus something funny or different my human artist friend may have included.
Look I’ve used AI art for sh*ts & giggles. My album UNEARTHED has AI generated images for the songs. I used them because they’re so stupid and bad they were funny.
But I won’t anymore. Because the issue has become critical and the willfully ignorant are making it worse.
AI art, music and writing isn’t a timesaver, a creative expression, or an evolution of humanity. It’s a game changer but for the enemy. When you root for AI you are in fact rooting for the Empire. You’re rooting for the Death Star. You’re rooting for Ewoks and Wookiees being killed. Good job. Alderaan would like to thank you but yeah they’re gone now because folks thought a Death Star sounded cool.
I pray someday in the future this will be eradicated and reigned in so people, actual goddamn people, are able to make art and put it out there without a machine being seen as a viable alternative.
Do not mistake AI generated content for anything other than what it is: A CAPITALIST TOOL DESIGNED TO MAKE MORE MONEY FOR THOSE WITH MONEY WITH ZERO CONCERN FOR THE NEGATIVE HUMAN IMPACT.
If you think all this won't lead to your job being taken over by AI then you're dumber than previously thought. Wherever a human does a job someone is looking for a machine to do it for them for no pay. Every job from parking lot attendant on up to CEO.
If you’ve read all this way and are still angry with me? Boohoo die fu***ng mad. I’ll draw a picture of you doing so for free.
- CRT OUT
