4 ms·

Couldn't agree more, isn't that the bizarre thing? "We have this great intellectually challenging job where we as workers have leverage. How can we completely r

Couldn't agree more, isn't that the bizarre thing? "We have this great intellectually challenging job where we as workers have leverage. How can we completely ruin that while also screwing up every other white collar profession"

entrox 8mo ago
Why is it bizarre? It is inevitable. After all, AI has not ruined creative professions, it merely disrupted and transformed them. And yes, I fully understand my whole comment here being snarky, but please bear with me. Let's rewind 4 years to this HN article titled "The AI Art Apocalypse": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32486133 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32486133 and read some of the comments. > Actually all progress will definitely will have a huge impact on a lot of lives—otherwise it is not progress. By definition it will impact many, by displacing those who were doing it the old way by doing it better and faster. The trouble is when people hold back progress just to prevent the impact. No one should be disagreeing that the impact shouldn't be prevented, but it should not be at the cost of progress. Now it's the software engineers turn to not hold back progress. Or this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34541693 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34541693 > [...] At the same time, a part of me feels art has no place being motivated by money anyway. Perhaps this change will restore the balance. Artists will need to get real jobs again like the rest of us and fund their art as a side project. Replace "Artists" with "Coders" and imagine a plumber writing that comment. Maybe this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34856326 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34856326 > [...] Artists will still exist, but most likely as hybrid 3d-modellers, AI modelers (Not full programmers, but able to fine-tune models with online guides and setups, can read basic python), and storytellers (like manga artists). It'll be a higher-pay, higher-prestige, higher-skill-requirement job than before. And all those artists who devoted their lives to draw better, find this to be an incredibly brutal adjustment. Again, replace "Artists" with coders and fill in the replacement. So, please get in line and adapt. And stop clinging to your "great intellectually challenging job" because you are holding back progress. It can't be that challenging if it can be handled by a machine anyway.
- tovej 8mo ago
  The premise of those comments, just like the premise in this thread, is ridiculous and fantastical. The only way generative AI has changed the creative arts is that it's made it easier to produce low quality slop. I would not call that a true transformation. I'd call that saving costs at the expense of quality. The same is true of software. The difference is, unlike art, quality in software has very clear safety and security implications. This gen AI hype is just the crypto hype all over again but with a sci-fi twist in the narrative. It's a worse form of work just like crypto was a worse form of money.
  - entrox 8mo ago
    I do not disagree, in fact I'm feeling more and more Butlerian with every passing day. However, it is undeniable that a transformation is taking place -- just not necessarily to the better.
  - topocite 8mo ago
    I just don't understand this line of thinking. Gen AI is the opposite of crypto. The use is immediate, obvious and needs no explanation or philosophizing. You are basically showing your hand that you have zero intellectual curiosity or you are delusional in your own ability if you have never learned anything from gen AI.
    - tovej 8mo ago
      I play with generative AI quite often. Mostly for shits and giggles. It's fun to try to make it hallucinate in the dumbest way possible. Or to make up context. E.g. try to make any image generating model take an existing photo of a humanoid and change it so the character does a backflip. It's also interesting to generate images in a long loop, because it usually reveals interesting patterns in the training data. Outside these distractions I've never had generative AI be useful. And I'm currently working in AI research.
  - mattmanser 8mo ago
    I still can't get over how bad the coca cola AI generated Xmas advert was. That someone approved it for release too boggles my mind. And, bizarrely, I've really not bought any since. It's diminished my desire for the brand.

entrox 8mo ago

Why is it bizarre? It is inevitable. After all, AI has not ruined creative professions, it merely disrupted and transformed them. And yes, I fully understand my whole comment here being snarky, but please bear with me. Let's rewind 4 years to this HN article titled "The AI Art Apocalypse": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32486133 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32486133 and read some of the comments. > Actually all progress will definitely will have a huge impact on a lot of lives—otherwise it is not progress. By definition it will impact many, by displacing those who were doing it the old way by doing it better and faster. The trouble is when people hold back progress just to prevent the impact. No one should be disagreeing that the impact shouldn't be prevented, but it should not be at the cost of progress. Now it's the software engineers turn to not hold back progress. Or this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34541693 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34541693 > [...] At the same time, a part of me feels art has no place being motivated by money anyway. Perhaps this change will restore the balance. Artists will need to get real jobs again like the rest of us and fund their art as a side project. Replace "Artists" with "Coders" and imagine a plumber writing that comment. Maybe this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34856326 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34856326 > [...] Artists will still exist, but most likely as hybrid 3d-modellers, AI modelers (Not full programmers, but able to fine-tune models with online guides and setups, can read basic python), and storytellers (like manga artists). It'll be a higher-pay, higher-prestige, higher-skill-requirement job than before. And all those artists who devoted their lives to draw better, find this to be an incredibly brutal adjustment. Again, replace "Artists" with coders and fill in the replacement. So, please get in line and adapt. And stop clinging to your "great intellectually challenging job" because you are holding back progress. It can't be that challenging if it can be handled by a machine anyway.

tovej 8mo ago
The premise of those comments, just like the premise in this thread, is ridiculous and fantastical. The only way generative AI has changed the creative arts is that it's made it easier to produce low quality slop. I would not call that a true transformation. I'd call that saving costs at the expense of quality. The same is true of software. The difference is, unlike art, quality in software has very clear safety and security implications. This gen AI hype is just the crypto hype all over again but with a sci-fi twist in the narrative. It's a worse form of work just like crypto was a worse form of money.
- entrox 8mo ago
  I do not disagree, in fact I'm feeling more and more Butlerian with every passing day. However, it is undeniable that a transformation is taking place -- just not necessarily to the better.
- topocite 8mo ago
  I just don't understand this line of thinking. Gen AI is the opposite of crypto. The use is immediate, obvious and needs no explanation or philosophizing. You are basically showing your hand that you have zero intellectual curiosity or you are delusional in your own ability if you have never learned anything from gen AI.
  - tovej 8mo ago
    I play with generative AI quite often. Mostly for shits and giggles. It's fun to try to make it hallucinate in the dumbest way possible. Or to make up context. E.g. try to make any image generating model take an existing photo of a humanoid and change it so the character does a backflip. It's also interesting to generate images in a long loop, because it usually reveals interesting patterns in the training data. Outside these distractions I've never had generative AI be useful. And I'm currently working in AI research.
- mattmanser 8mo ago
  I still can't get over how bad the coca cola AI generated Xmas advert was. That someone approved it for release too boggles my mind. And, bizarrely, I've really not bought any since. It's diminished my desire for the brand.