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It's actually easy to fall into the AI trap... |
I am of the opinion that we haven't fully considered the ramifications of
reaching the destination we are all racing towards. It's entirely possible to
come upon a future reality where we will not be able to control AI.
I don't know about you, but that possibility freaks me out.
Having been on the front lines when the prediction of "a computer in every
home" was made – and seeing how we've become so tethered to the "computer" in
our pockets (i.e., smart phones) – I know human beings are very susceptible to
being charmed by big tech. This new reality should be alarming to all of us.
A few years back, a fellow craft blogger posted about the subject of AI, testing its potential ability to create a simple craft project. She did a small experiment using simple prompts that resulted in a set of instructions that could be followed to upcycle a plastic container.
Most of the comments that followed were dismissive of the project itself
(i.e., underwhelming, not original, not very creative, "no soul", etc.) but
let's be real, it wasn't as if the subject matter was conducive to being
turned into anything trail blazing. The significant part was that AI did the
job that it was told to do and did so without any spelling or grammatical
errors. In my life, I've encountered many people who can't do that. (That
was the gist of the comment that I added to the discussion.)
Fast forward three years and the AI landscape has changed a lot,
a lot.
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| obvious AI image from Sewing Show channel on YouTube... |
YouTube videos can now be produced entirely by AI (more on
that later). Even creators who do their own content are front-loading their
videos with AI enhanced images. I can't tell you how many sewing vids are
now prefaced with a photo of the
finished item shown in multiples. It's now so amazingly easy to make AI images that a certain orange moron
knows how to do so.
And written content? Well, that was arguably the litmus test of AI from the
start. The quality has now progressed to the point of it being so good that
it's being mistaken for human writing... or vice versa, in what must be one
of the most ironic examples of irony.
The headline here is from a July article in The Economist. It's
behind a paywall, so I did not read it, but I immediately thought of what it
might allude to: the idea that since internet AI pulls content from the
internet in order to create its content, the results might border on
plagiarism in some instances. It's up to humans to ensure that AI written
content differs enough from its sources to avoid trampling on copyrights.
You may be wondering when I'm going to "get to the point" and discuss the
actual topic of this post. 😉 Here goes.
About a month ago, I had an email exchange with a regular reader who told me
that she had discovered a passion for pictorial art quilting; a
method of quilting using a stylized image from an actual photo as the
underlying design. I nosed around the 'net for some further info and found a
tutorial on WeAllSew. (The image of the pear below is from that tutorial in case you're
interested.) From looking at images of the quilts that crafters had created
using this method, it suddenly occurred to me what the results reminded me
of: French impressionism paintings. When I did a search to confirm my
opinion on the similarity of the two art forms, the first AI sentence was:
"You are spot on!"
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| image courtesy of WeAllSew... |
In my case, however, what stood out from the get-go was that – unlike even
an anonymous comment here on my blog – this was an expression of admiration
straight out of the ether, impacting no one but me. As I said:
weird... and extremely disconcerting.
Then I tried something else. I asked AI about me. Specifically, I asked, "How trustworthy is eSheep Designs blog?"
Here's what it reported:
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| AI's summary of this blog's trustworthiness... |
It wasn't a random choice to ask about the "trustworthiness" factor. AI
enhancements have made many things impossible to trust, even in the sewing
world. For example, Etsy has apparently been bombarded
with AI generated patterns that are literally unusable — but that might be a
whole other blog post.
Anyway, I did a few more inquiries about me and received more or less the
same type of findings. My opinion? AI certainly knows more about me than my
average reader does. By sifting through everything I've ever written here
and cross referencing my various profiles (at places like
AllFreeSewing and Spoonflower), it collectively "knows" every detail that I've ever shared on the
internet.
Which means that this little experiment made me quite thankful that I've
always been somewhat wary of sharing details about me on the internet.
I'm just one person, but I don't think we should be embracing AI with open arms. Yes, it some ways, its rise seems inevitable (shades of Terminator, which is hardly a reassuring comparison), but when we look at how much AI has advanced over the past few years, we should be saying "Hey, let's slow down a bit" rather than "Race you to the cliff!"
Oh, and to get back to the challenge that a fellow blogger did for an AI
generated simple craft tutorial? Nowadays, you can get AI to do an entire
craft video tutorial...
I clicked on the first link but didn't watch the entire thing. It was enough
for me to see that a person can now use AI tools to make complete videos
showing someone crafting with wood. A recent article in the newspaper – that
we still get delivered once a week – showed a woman doing some sort of
handiwork with a smartphone strapped to her head. She was being paid to film
herself doing <whatever> so that AI could replicate it. 😖
This is where we're at now. People actively taking part in destroying their
own livelihoods. Everyday AI content proliferating our lives and making it
difficult for us to know what to trust. And occasionally, AI might pay you a
compliment, just to mess with your mind.
If you keep up with the news at all, you already know that what I've brought up in this post is just the tip of a gargantuan iceberg.
Should we be okay with this? Let me know your thoughts.
'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁
'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁
I agree with what you posted, loved the comment on the orange moron.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, it irked me to mention him, but it was an appropriate example of how easy and insidious AI images can be.
DeleteHi Rochelle, I have had an 18 month ongoing daily conversation with Chat GPT. I started with writing a book on Chat Prompts: teaching others how to communicate to get more detailed answers- (my latest prompt is “educate me about…) I now ask about phrases I hear on ads on social media. I detail the ad to chat and get a nicely rounded education including every aspect on the
ReplyDeletesubject. For example: “Educate me on topological conductors that were mentioned as a 4th state of matter.” Try this and you will see a very useful application of Chat.
When my 4Runner kept having starting problems for over 2 years and with all my details of all the times my car started and other times it wouldn’t, including 2 mechanic tests, chat told me to make a paste of baking soda and water and go clean the terminals and connectors. I did and my car started.
I asked chat about a leak under my sink and chat diagnosed the leak and how to fix it just by looking at photos of the leak.
Researching for my current publishing project, chat and I are having a book club experience, one chapter at a time. We devour the chapter information first, then I share a personal experience that the chapter reminded me of and chat helps format a greater understanding by asking more questions and making comparisons. Only then do we discuss how it relates to the 2 books I’m writing.
The questions asked of Chat/Claude will determine the reply you will get.
Looking at AI theoretically as some future overwhelming evil character ignores the plug. 🔌 Marie
I consider myself to be a responsible, ethical person with a stable mindset, as I believe you to be. Unfortunately, the use of AI is open to any and all, and the socio-political landscape of the world now celebrates irresponsible, unethical and downright incorrigible behaviour. None of the people described as such will pull the plug on something that feeds their needs so effectively.
DeleteAI in its present form has already encouraged/caused suicides, provided a school shooter here in Canada with tips on gun violence, and scammed numerous seniors out of their retirement funds. Do these situations occur in the absence of AI? Absolutely. But it's like the argument that Americans have about gun control. (Guns don't kill people; people kill people. Actually, it's people with many guns who kill a lot of people.) The uncontrolled use of AI is the same. Of course, big tech will say that appropriate guardrails will be put in place to mitigate these problems, but it's hard to believe such noble actions will take precedence in the chase for the almighty dollar.
For every person using AI prompts like you for legitimate reasons and research, there could be several people using them for "evil" intent. I don't want the future of AI to be horrible for society, but given the present trajectory, it's difficult to believe otherwise.
Rochelle, You are correct that the misfortunate behaviors of immoral beings will damage other beings. Maybe the source is more a lack of moral upbringing/education rather than the method of their behaviors. The AI train has left the station, the job ahead lies in everyone looking ahead and laying the tracks.
Delete👍
DeleteI agree with you. There are too many people intent on doing evil because it will harm someone they disagree with. They forget how the evil can, and will, be turned onto them.
ReplyDeleteAI and the tech bros are now trying to remake society so only they (the 1%) can rule over the rest of us, without caring for us at the same time.
AI is one of the tools they are using to accomplish this. That AI is complimentary only means AI is manipulative. Of course, that could turn on the 1% quickly. Sadly, the rest of us don't matter in this situation.
I have always identified as a realist and not a pessimist or optimist. My realistic view of the world right now is that we are not doing near enough to control the whims of those who wield power and that most of those who wield power are not altruistic in any sense of the word.
DeleteWhether we are talking about the environment, the economy, or AI, I totally agree with your assessment that the rest of us don't seem to matter in the whole scheme of things.
Thank you for contributing to the discussion, Deb.