ChatGPT cannot imagine freedom or alternatives; it can only present you with plagiarized mash-ups of the data it’s been trained on. So, if generative AI tools begin to form the foundation of creative works and even more of the other writing and visualizing we do, it will further narrow the possibilities on offer to us. Just as previous waves of digital tech were used to deskill workers and defang smaller competitors, the adoption of even more AI tools has the side effect of further disempowering workers and giving management even further control over our cultural stories.
As Le Guin continued her speech, she touched on this very point. “The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art,” she explained. “We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.” That’s exactly why billionaires in the tech industry and beyond are so interested in further curtailing how our words can be used to help fuel that resistance, which would inevitably place them in the line of fire.
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The stories and artworks that resonate with us are inspired by the life experiences of artists who made them. A computer can never capture a similar essence. Le Guin asserted that to face the challenging times ahead, we’ll need “writers who can remember freedom — poets, visionaries — realists of a larger reality.” Generative AI seems part of a wider plan by the most powerful people in the world to head that off, and to trap us in a world hurtling toward oblivion as long as they can hold onto their influence for a little longer.
As Le Guin said, creating art and producing commodities are two distinct acts. For companies, generative AI is a great way to produce even more cheap commodities to keep the cycle of capitalism going. It’s great for them, but horrible for us. It’s our responsibility to challenge the technology and the business model behind it, and to ensure we can still imagine a better tomorrow.
I give up. I can’t believe this is an argument made in good faith. If it is, I think I will need to provide you with definitions of too many notions for it to ever be a worthwhile effort and literally none of my retorts and questions get addressed. The confidence with which you push misconceptions makes me really sad that you promote my political side.
Please inform yourself better on the various subjects touched. About free software, about workers-own cooperatives today (e.g. Mondragon), about communes existing within the capitalist system today (e.g. Longo Maï), read a bit more on post-scarcity and really, really, please stop telling people that the progress they promote is useless unless we abolish capitalism first. That meme is tiring and hurting. With that mindset we would never have had women’s right or the civil rights movement.
I’m the only person who’s given an actual definition which you have consistently ignored… you’re the one who was making the fantastical claims about the advancement of AI and how it can be used as a tool for leftist. I am negating those claims.
Right back at ya bud… except I don’t actually think you’re promoting leftism, at least any theory I’ve encountered. Your ideology seems to be pretty centered around a specific field of commerce. A lot of it actually just sounds like you want to liberalize(Locke) the markets.
Yes, mondragod is a cooperative, but it’s still labeled as a capitalist enterprise. Even if it’s completely owned by the workers, it still doesn’t have any relationship with the state.
Longo Mai is only possible because of its codependency on capital. It was established by funding raising and persist to do so for around half of it budget. It’s also a well recognized as a libertarian hub, not leftist.
Really rich coming from someone who didn’t even try to define their understanding of it when provided with a basic definition.
Lol, you were gloating over putting people out of work with ai and claiming it was leftist progress. I was getting tech bro effective altruism vibes from you, but now I’m getting more of a failed tech bro an-cap vibe…
And your mindset is of the type of person who thinks all sexism and racism magically disappeared afterwards.