Hi, I'm Light. Jellyfish enthusiast, apocalypse hobbyist, microbe fan, writer, once-upon-a-time SCP Foundation staff. (Yes, as in "Sophia Light." I'm that one!) Come for the existential terror, stay for the axolotl facts.
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So, people explaining that AI isn’t “real art” bother me, not so much because of the answer they reach but because most of the people saying it isn’t seem to romanticize not just commercial art production, but also bizarrely to romanticize AI as well, in ways that bother me for subtle reasons I want to try to articulate.
So, first of all, I personally don’t think fine art will be changed much by AI.
So that’s part one, but part two is that critics of AI art really romanticize AI art, and that also bothers me. I think I kind of get it, but it is still really odd to me to spend so much time criticizing something while also unquestioningly buying into hype that has yet to materialize and, quite frankly, might just be literally impossible?
Critics of AI seem to have a few points that they hit over and over again:
It is generic “slop”, generally aesthetically less pleasing then human work;
It is unresponsive to human effort and represents an absence of human input;
It is economically threatening to working artists
My immediate response to those concerns is that for some of those concerns to become more pressing, others would basically have to become less pressing.
AI critics seem to envision a really bizarre future where somehow, all of those problems get worse simultaneously.
Where, for example, AI remains generic, aesthetically displeasing slop that people enjoy less than more dynamic human art, but somehow becomes way more commercially successful than the human art that consumers prefer when given the choice.
Look, as someone who dabbles in visual art, I play with StableDiffusion and go, “This tool getting betteris literally synonymous with the tool being more amenable to human creative input.”
What I mean is, frequently this stuff looks like “Slop” because StableDiffusion pulls the image in really specific directions, and when a human eye looks at the result and goes, “That costuming choice makes no sense and this composition is poor” it’s actually really hard to fix those things without also changing a bunch of other stuff about the image that you don’t want to change, or just using ordinary art techniques to fix it.
To me, as an amateur artist and person who cares about art, it is really, really hard for me to imagine how the technology could simultaneously become massively better without it also becoming massively more human in its results.
The thing about slop is, Fiverr already exists, guys. If Disney wanted to transition to content farm garbage they already have the means to do so, and it is already cheaper than making good movies, even when you do it without AI.
Disney doesn’t stay away from generic, content farm garbage because the technology to cheaply produce generic, content farm garbage didn’t exist until just now, they stay away from it because they don’t want to make it.
AI critics frequently seem to envision this truly bizarre world where Disney just types “Write a Disney movie script” into Chat-GPT without any further elaboration, and then put the result into Sora and get a full-length movie that they send to theaters without any further human input on questions like, “What is the movie about” or “What style is it filmed in”.
And, okay, first of all, for people who claim to be haters none of the people who fear that outcome seem to realize what a truly enormous leap in technology that would be, how much of a massive improvement AI tech would have to undergo. Why are you giving this shit you claim to hate so much credit that it has not even come close to earning?
Because what these people are envisioning is that AI will advance to the point where an enormous global brand like Disney can literally say nothing more than, “Hey AI, manage all of our film release schedule and branding efforts for the next decade” and it does, and it does so better than a human would.
Guys, that’s called the singularity, and if that happens, it will massively transform every aspect of society to the point where we will have way bigger concerns then whether the key art that Disney sends out in press kits was drawn as work for hire by an underpaid human.
MADOKA - “I’m thinking I’ll order a beef udon bowl, since Sayaka-chan told me that they make those really good here. What about you, Homura-chan?”
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY - Food needs can be met with an expenditure of 1.23% of total magic. Proceed?
GRIEF SYNDROME [Trivial: Success] - MAGICAL GIRLS THAT IGNORE FOOD ARE OFTEN MORE PRONE TO GRIEF ACCUMULATION. MY ARMS WILL ALWAYS BE WAITING FOR YOU, HOMURA, BUT IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE HAPPY UNTIL THAT DAY. BESIDES, MADOKA WANTS TO EAT WITH YOU. DISAPPOINTING HER WILL FILL YOUR SOUL GEM WITH A HALF A GRIEF SEED WORTH OF DESPAIR.
TEA WITH MAMI-SAN [Legendary: Success] - Sayaka says the beef bowl is good? Maybe go for that. She knows Madoka’s tastes better than anyone — and if Madoka likes something, you will certainly like it too.
“I will have the same as you, Madoka.”
“I’m not feeling very hungry.”
[CALL AND RESPONSE - Medium 10] Come up with an order on your own
CALL AND RESPONSE - [Medium: Failure] - You’ve eaten here before, you’re pretty sure. Was it Loop 32… no, Loop 12..? No, wait, it was on the first Friday of Loop 68. No… that’s not right. You’ve never eaten here before. In a stunning display of incompetence, you have taken Madoka on a date to a restaurant that you have never experienced before.
THE ANGEL - It’s okay, Homura-chan! I don’t mind if you haven’t eaten here before. Remember what real me said, Sayaka thinks this place is good! And even if it’s not perfect, that’s okay, just spending time with you makes me happy.
THE CRAVEN MASSES - Sayaka has raised her blade against Madoka 16 times before. You should leave this restaurant and kill her. It would only take-
FALLING SAND [Trivial: Success] - 1528 seconds on average.
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY - It can be cut down to 1243 seconds with an expenditure of 2.7% of total magic pool.
THE CRAVEN MASSES - Exactly. Do it in front of her family and make it bloody. Kyoko would likely try and stop you, but even she isn’t immune to bullets. And if Mami comes for revenge, well, you know the exact words you could say that would destroy her, don’t you?
THE ANGEL - A-Ah, I think that’s a bit of an extreme reaction, Homura-chan!
HUMAN SHELL - Your heart rate is increasing. Stop that. You have absolute control over your flesh. Act like it.
MOE INSTINCT - AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT ARE WE GOING TO ORDER MADOKA IS GOING TO LAUGH AT US
WITCH’S NIGHT - Is… is this a trap? Walpurgis may be defeated, but you know that the stage witch never truly ceases its show. Perhaps this restaurant is a part of the stage?
MADOKA - “Um, are you okay, Homura-chan?”
MOE INSTINCT - OH GOD SHE HATES US
“I’m going to kill myself.”
“I’m so sorry. Would killing myself make you feel more comfortable?”
Isn’t there anything else you can say?
YOU - Isn’t there anything else you can say?
THE DEVIL - Come on, Homura. It’s high time you do it. Really, this is just another in the long, long chain of failures that make up your life. The only way to fix it is to kill yourself.
CLOCKWORK PRECISION - Target: Located on right ring finger. Target is not moving. Chance to hit: High. Plan: Retrieve pistol. Aim pistol at ring. Pull trigger.
THE ANGEL - Oh my god, please do not do that!
“I am going to kill myself.”
“I’m so sorry, I’ll kill myself if it makes you feel better.”
“I’m so sorry. Should I kill myself?”
There. There has to be better options than this.
YOU - There. There has to be better options than this.
MOE INSTINCT - I CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE. THE ONLY RECOURSE IS IMMEDIATE SUICIDE. THAT’S THE ONLY WAY MADOKA WILL LOVE YOU AGAIN.
“I am going to kill myself.”
“I’m so sorry, I’ll kill myself if it makes you feel better.”
“I’m so sorry. Should I kill myself?”
YOU - “I’m going to kill myself.”
MADOKA - Madoka’s face twists, her eyebrows raising slightly in shock. Whatever response she was expecting, it was clearly not this.
GRIEF SYNDROME [Challenging: Success] - IF MADOKA WAS A MAGICAL GIRL, HER SOUL GEM WOULD FILL BY A QUARTER HEARING YOU SPEAK THOSE WORDS. THAT WAS CRUEL, HOMURA.
MOE INSTINCT - WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?
MADOKA - “I’m so sorry, Homura-chan. Please don’t do that. I… I really care about you and so does everyone else.” Madoka’s eyes fill with tears as she speaks. She hugs you.
DAMAGED MORALE -4
CALL AND RESPONSE [Trivial: Success] - Quick, tell her you were making an edgy joke that didn’t land. You’ve gotten away with that before, you’re pretty sure.
SPACE-TIME MASSACRE - Twelve quarter shifts left and two up from your current space-time position, and there’s a Japan that it’s actually illegal to not commit suicide in.
FALLING SAND - You’ve been seated for 5 minutes and 32.5 seconds already and still have not ordered. Mami has requested your presence at her apartment in 3.4 hours from now.
TEA WITH MAMI-SAN - She wants to help you find a hobby. She’s really worried about you, you know.
STRINGS OF FATE - You can feel Madoka’s heart beat in sync with yours as she holds you. Everything will be alright, as long as you follow the beat.
THE ANGEL - Yeah! It’s okay Homura-chan. Just explain what’s been going on and Madoka will understand. And then order something, it’s important to eat a full meal!
YOU - “Ah, sorry Madoka. I was… overwhelmed with choice, and my… brain spit out the first thing it thought. I am not planning on killing myself.”
MADOKA - “Um, I think we should probably talk about this more, Homura-chan….”
CALL AND RESPONSE - Ask her a question to change the topic. It’s worked in three different loops, it should work here.
RATIONALITY COMPLEX [Trival: Success] - Ask her if she wants to try anything else and then order that for yourself. This will accomplish your goal of deciding on what to order, as well as showing Madoka that her desires are important to you.
YOU - “Is there anything else you’d like to try, Madoka? We can share our dishes.”
MADOKA - “Uh, okay Homura-chan. Maybe get some tempura?”
Order 10000 yen worth of tempura
Order 1000 yen worth of tempura
Order 100 yen worth of tempura
YOU - “Excuse me waiter, give me 10000 yen worth of tempura.”
HUMAN SHELL - Calories and magic are just two different types of fuel. Feed me and control me.
THE ANGEL - T-that’s probably too much, Homura-chan. Maybe you can sneak some into your cool shield, though!
MADOKA - Madoka doesn’t say anything, but her eyes do bulge out slightly. She gives you a gentle pat on the shoulder and smiles at you.
HEALED MORALE +1
RATIONALITY COMPLEX - Displays of wealth like this can broadcast value to potential mates. This will increase your value in Madoka’s eyes, furthering along one of your goals.
THE ANGEL - I think you should just focus on enjoying the food, Homura-chan. Take a break, everything is okay.
Thank you.
Why don’t you hate me?
YOU - Why don’t you hate me?
THE ANGEL - Because I care about you, Homura-chan! And besides, you hate yourself far too much already.
Thank you.
THE ANGEL - You’re welcome! Now, please, enjoy your meal with real Madoka. She loves you a lot too, you know.
Ahead of time, people submit their breakup songs, their love songs from failed relationships, their emo songs that got them through their darkest hours. Filter for danceability and run a 2-3 hour social dance of just that music.
Ideally someone is weeping at any given moment the entire night!
ALT
