Some things are difficult to articulate.
I used to be in the art gallery business, and this was during a period where the popularity and reach of Digital Art was increasing rapidly.
Digital Art...
I had many interesting discussions with members of the "stable" of artists we represented, concerning the future of art. But what I'm covering here isn't really just about art, it's about everything.
The first thing we tackled was the whole idea of something being "original." What is "the original," when it comes to digital art? Some would argue that NFTs go a long way towards establishing originality... but does it really? Electronic dots and dashes aren't "a thing" the same way paint on a canvas is "a thing."
But what happened to "the original?"
Copies, Copies, Copies for EVERYone!
This morning, I was doing some updating on some of my listings on eBay, and in the "you may also" like column I noticed that there were what seemed to be paintings by one of my favorite Danish artists for sale. Of course, the fact that they were $69.95 and free shipping, and being delivered from China, told me that they could be nothing but copies since this particular artist's work generally sells for amounts in the thousands of dollars.
So I decided to dig around in it a little bit, and I determined that I was actually looking at a "copy farm."
"Copy Farming" is the process of hiring a team of relatively skilled artists to make mass-produced copies of original masterworks. Yes, they are actually hand painted, in some location where $1 an hour is considered good income. Typically, they bear a decent resemblance to the original, although typically lacking in detail.
This, in turn, made me think about the emerging influence of AI on art and on writing and on other forms of creative expression. Whatever we may think of AI (philosophically speaking), essentially AI represents a copy of something that already exists.
Of course we could argue that everybody being able to have "whatever they want" is a sign of the prosperity everyone is talking about, and only fair in a world where we are trying to make things better and close the vast chasm between the "Haves" and the "Have Nots."
Yeah, but That's not Very Special, Is It?
The fly in the ointment — at least from where I am sitting — is that if everything can be conveniently copied at a very low cost then ultimately nothing is really "special" anymore... everything is just average.
Consider this: If everybody can afford to eat filet mignon for dinner then it's really not "a special treat," it's just food. If everybody has a well-rendered copy of a DaVinci painting on their walls, then DaVinci is no longer "exceptional," but average. See what I'm getting at?
The Death of a PROCESS?
But let's consider the creative process, itself.
In many ways AI threatens that creative process. Not because there's anything wrong with AI per se, but because it gives those in the world who would rather just press a button and have whatever they want appear from a 3D printer the upper hand. Or the dominant paradigm.
I mean, why actually work for it or find your own inspiration to create it when it can just pop our of a machine. As such the creative process becomes more or less meaningless. "Chat GPT, write me a post about vegetable gardening!"
On the surface, we might make the argument that it's not necessarily a bad thing... but how would — over time — a predisposition to just press a button rather than use your own creative power affect the broader flow of innovation?
As the old saying goes, "necessity is the mother of invention."
If there's no necessity, will there still be invention? Or are we hurtling down the road towards the world of Idiocracy?
Think about it...
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!
Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
Proud member of the Silver Bloggers Community on Hive!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT posted anywhere else!)
Created at 2024-01-06 00:46 PST
1038/2293