6 ms·

Ensloppification

14 points by treadump 1y ago

bobrobpr 1y ago
[flagged]
bitpush 1y ago
> I’m extremely privileged to have a job that I enjoy. My work is creative. The challenges are rewarding. I don’t take that for granted. When I imagine “AI” in the mix it does not spark joy. I tried the tab-completion slot machines; not my cup of tea. I tried image generation and was overcome with literal depression. I don’t want a future as a “prompt artist”. I’d rather pack up my privilege and find something else. I’m incredibly fortunate to have a craft that I cherish. My work is visceral; the smell of the oils, the feel of the canvas beneath my brush. The challenges of translating vision to a tangible form are deeply fulfilling. I don’t take that for granted. When I imagine computers further encroaching on design, it does not spark inspiration. I’ve seen these digital drawing tablets and "design" software; they feel cold and disconnected, like painting by numbers with a sterile stylus. I’ve witnessed the rise of computer-generated graphics and felt a profound sense of loss for the handcrafted. I don’t want a future as a “graphic operator” or a “filter adjuster.” I’d rather pack up my easel and find something else entirely.
- os2warpman 1y ago
  Wacom tablet don’t draw the thing for you. They, and AI bullshit, are not comparable. Attempting to equate them just demonstrates the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the techbros behind the ai hype train.
  - tpmoney 1y ago
    And detractors say AI doesn’t draw the thing for you either. “Soulless”, “without human touch”, “tab-completion slot machine”, “slop”, “hallucinations” etc. Seems like they’re more comparable to a Wacom or 3d render/modeling program than first glance might suggest. They make some things easier and faster, but apparently still require a human being to wield to tool with skill to produce art product people are interested in.
    - scotty79 1y ago
      To paraphrase Theo.gg Good creators are set. Bad creators are screwed. We are only beginning to see what a talented artist can do with AI tools. Bad ones can't do much more than laymen and are scared and disappointed.
  - bitpush 1y ago
    Are you sure? I dont remember the last time I "drew" an arrow mark. I hit a drop down, selected the one that I wanted and hit OK. Even if I wanted to tweak it, I double click and tweak the control points. Same for bezier curves. And dont even get me started on typography & icon packs. How about easy undo? What would a master like Da Vinci say if he saw modern designers iterating over colors using colorpickers? He'd shake his head saying "designers these days cant visualize things in their heads"
    - os2warpman 1y ago
      > He'd shake his head saying "designers these days cant visualize things in their heads" Thinking they know what a long-dead person would say or think is YET ANOTHER sign of the AIbro’s intellectual and moral bankruptcy.
- dbushell 1y ago
  Yes your example is exactly the same and yet I fear you're missing the point entirely.
absurdo 1y ago
[flagged]
- bitpush 1y ago
  I've noticed most of the fear mongering is coming from folks who are just enough skilled to be worried their life's worth is going to be replaced. A competant web-dev knows that they are going to be OK, and so are competent screenwriter/designer. Imagine the world when blogging and self-publishing was starting out, if all the NYT journalists started saying "OMG, this internet thing is going to allow anyone to start a news site. Are you saying you write opinion pieces without studying and going to journalism schools?" It is the same energy here. Gatekeepers. All of them.
  - absurdo 1y ago
    I wouldn’t go that far but I do like the analogy. I just think if someone is this hung up on a tool or technology or a process taking over their job, or the jobs of the world, probably doom-ranting through a blog is a short term relief to the anxiety or denial or grief, but ideally I’d say they should see a psychiatrist so we don’t have to all collectively suffer the enmemefication.
  - antithesizer 1y ago
    It's certainly possible that the author believes their blog post is going to spark a movement or contribute in some way, as a sort of political act, to society's rejection of AI and therefore the ultimate salvation of their career as an AI-illiterate "creative". But giving them the benefit of the doubt for a moment, it might be more likely that they simply are aware that many such people exist already and are apt to click on a post such as this in order to have their opinions repeated back to them cathartically. The idea that a growing mass of social media posts can go critical and blast a hole in reality is, on the other hand, extremely popular these days.
    - bitpush 1y ago
      I'm not saying I like all of this, or I dont worry about the future. But then again, WHO AM I to think that others are gonna "make things worse" or "not be given this power". Democratizing tools, knowledge, access has always been messy. Think of the days when books were restricted to only elites. Explosion of ideas happened once it was opened up, but it was also messy. We progress when everybody is empowered, and I see AI giving super powers to all of them. Will it be messy? 100% but we'll come out it better than what we have today.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
suprjami 1y ago
Both TFA and the article it links to go too far in either direction. The author of this is a web developer so has a lot more to lose. Yes there will always be people who pay for a human made creative website, but that market has decreased for the foreseeable future. I can't blame them for being hostile and tired, I would be too. Simply acknowledging criticism of AI then saying "anyway" isn't really an argument either. "So do knives" is bullshit, nobody with knives wants to eliminate interns and create 20% unemployment like Amodei claims. One thing this makes me realise is that an AI generated web largely stops growing. We've all joked about webdevs perpetually porting to JavaScript framework-of-the-week. If most websites are generated from a set of historical training data and we force web devs to diversify away, then there will be few people left to make a "web 4.0" or whatever version you consider is after the modern web. Hopefully you like hamburger menus, looks like they're here to stay.
mikewarot 1y ago
We've seen this a few times already, and we know how it'll play out. A little actual change, and a lot of failed initiatives, and resulting clean up work. AI is just the latest version of "no code", that promises results with little skill. The details required to have a good and accessible web site that works reliably on all the popular viewing platforms, can't be delivered with oversimplified requirements, especially when you through hallucination into the mix. However, the old saying "Garbage In, Garbage Out" still applies.
chrisjj 1y ago
My Android phone has a checkbox styled as a radio button. What do they teach kids at college these days?

14 points by treadump 1y ago

[flagged]

> I’m extremely privileged to have a job that I enjoy. My work is creative. The challenges are rewarding. I don’t take that for granted. When I imagine “AI” in the mix it does not spark joy. I tried the tab-completion slot machines; not my cup of tea. I tried image generation and was overcome with literal depression. I don’t want a future as a “prompt artist”. I’d rather pack up my privilege and find something else. I’m incredibly fortunate to have a craft that I cherish. My work is visceral; the smell of the oils, the feel of the canvas beneath my brush. The challenges of translating vision to a tangible form are deeply fulfilling. I don’t take that for granted. When I imagine computers further encroaching on design, it does not spark inspiration. I’ve seen these digital drawing tablets and "design" software; they feel cold and disconnected, like painting by numbers with a sterile stylus. I’ve witnessed the rise of computer-generated graphics and felt a profound sense of loss for the handcrafted. I don’t want a future as a “graphic operator” or a “filter adjuster.” I’d rather pack up my easel and find something else entirely.

os2warpman 1y ago
Wacom tablet don’t draw the thing for you. They, and AI bullshit, are not comparable. Attempting to equate them just demonstrates the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the techbros behind the ai hype train.
- tpmoney 1y ago
  And detractors say AI doesn’t draw the thing for you either. “Soulless”, “without human touch”, “tab-completion slot machine”, “slop”, “hallucinations” etc. Seems like they’re more comparable to a Wacom or 3d render/modeling program than first glance might suggest. They make some things easier and faster, but apparently still require a human being to wield to tool with skill to produce art product people are interested in.
  - scotty79 1y ago
    To paraphrase Theo.gg Good creators are set. Bad creators are screwed. We are only beginning to see what a talented artist can do with AI tools. Bad ones can't do much more than laymen and are scared and disappointed.
- bitpush 1y ago
  Are you sure? I dont remember the last time I "drew" an arrow mark. I hit a drop down, selected the one that I wanted and hit OK. Even if I wanted to tweak it, I double click and tweak the control points. Same for bezier curves. And dont even get me started on typography & icon packs. How about easy undo? What would a master like Da Vinci say if he saw modern designers iterating over colors using colorpickers? He'd shake his head saying "designers these days cant visualize things in their heads"
  - os2warpman 1y ago
    > He'd shake his head saying "designers these days cant visualize things in their heads" Thinking they know what a long-dead person would say or think is YET ANOTHER sign of the AIbro’s intellectual and moral bankruptcy.
dbushell 1y ago
Yes your example is exactly the same and yet I fear you're missing the point entirely.

absurdo 1y ago

[flagged]

bitpush 1y ago
I've noticed most of the fear mongering is coming from folks who are just enough skilled to be worried their life's worth is going to be replaced. A competant web-dev knows that they are going to be OK, and so are competent screenwriter/designer. Imagine the world when blogging and self-publishing was starting out, if all the NYT journalists started saying "OMG, this internet thing is going to allow anyone to start a news site. Are you saying you write opinion pieces without studying and going to journalism schools?" It is the same energy here. Gatekeepers. All of them.
- absurdo 1y ago
  I wouldn’t go that far but I do like the analogy. I just think if someone is this hung up on a tool or technology or a process taking over their job, or the jobs of the world, probably doom-ranting through a blog is a short term relief to the anxiety or denial or grief, but ideally I’d say they should see a psychiatrist so we don’t have to all collectively suffer the enmemefication.
- antithesizer 1y ago
  It's certainly possible that the author believes their blog post is going to spark a movement or contribute in some way, as a sort of political act, to society's rejection of AI and therefore the ultimate salvation of their career as an AI-illiterate "creative". But giving them the benefit of the doubt for a moment, it might be more likely that they simply are aware that many such people exist already and are apt to click on a post such as this in order to have their opinions repeated back to them cathartically. The idea that a growing mass of social media posts can go critical and blast a hole in reality is, on the other hand, extremely popular these days.
  - bitpush 1y ago
    I'm not saying I like all of this, or I dont worry about the future. But then again, WHO AM I to think that others are gonna "make things worse" or "not be given this power". Democratizing tools, knowledge, access has always been messy. Think of the days when books were restricted to only elites. Explosion of ideas happened once it was opened up, but it was also messy. We progress when everybody is empowered, and I see AI giving super powers to all of them. Will it be messy? 100% but we'll come out it better than what we have today.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

suprjami 1y ago

Both TFA and the article it links to go too far in either direction. The author of this is a web developer so has a lot more to lose. Yes there will always be people who pay for a human made creative website, but that market has decreased for the foreseeable future. I can't blame them for being hostile and tired, I would be too. Simply acknowledging criticism of AI then saying "anyway" isn't really an argument either. "So do knives" is bullshit, nobody with knives wants to eliminate interns and create 20% unemployment like Amodei claims. One thing this makes me realise is that an AI generated web largely stops growing. We've all joked about webdevs perpetually porting to JavaScript framework-of-the-week. If most websites are generated from a set of historical training data and we force web devs to diversify away, then there will be few people left to make a "web 4.0" or whatever version you consider is after the modern web. Hopefully you like hamburger menus, looks like they're here to stay.

mikewarot 1y ago

We've seen this a few times already, and we know how it'll play out. A little actual change, and a lot of failed initiatives, and resulting clean up work. AI is just the latest version of "no code", that promises results with little skill. The details required to have a good and accessible web site that works reliably on all the popular viewing platforms, can't be delivered with oversimplified requirements, especially when you through hallucination into the mix. However, the old saying "Garbage In, Garbage Out" still applies.

chrisjj 1y ago

My Android phone has a checkbox styled as a radio button. What do they teach kids at college these days?