I am using AI in most of my daily workflow. It's not a sin to do it then, and it's not a sin to do it now. While I know that "sin" is a strong word to describe the sentiment people have around AI, I still think it's appropriate.

People would unironically act as if someone is a criminal for using AI. Granted, those are cases where generative AI is used for "artistic" work — something a lot of people are rightfully sensitive about.

But as is with any crusade against "evil", it became evil itself. Stare into the dark, and sometimes who stares back but yourself?

The Pandora's Box

AI, to me, is a Pandora's Box. Like any other boxes of similar nature — genome editing, worldwide instant communication, and the ability to deconstruct — the nature of generative artificial intelligence is a stain you can't wipe off. What's done is done, and it's not like the technology's research trajectory is novel.

We've seen primitive forms of AI being used in an increasingly ubiquitous manner. Yes, I'm talking about those enemies you fought in video games. You'll react to that by admitting that you have enjoyed a primitive AI, but that's not what you meant, is it?

When you react negatively towards the fervent and honestly tiring use of generative AI in recent years, it's probably because you're looking at it from a consumer or employee mindset. You are wary, because we have collectively stared at a Pandora's Box equivalent to the early internet, or Facebook for that matter.

Your wariness is human — you're afraid. Many lower-end jobs would cease to exist if these big corporations and potential workplaces figured out how to use AI properly. It's a scary prospect.

Fortunately, as much as AI is a Pandora's Box, humans are stupid. Humans are greedy, selfish, and stupid. They would not know how to use AI properly, and you would be fired over nothing.

This Pandora's Box, if you look at it, is similar enough to Facebook that you should compare the two. Nowadays, the usage of social media and the TikTok method of infinite scroll and dopamine hits is normalized enough that every social media platform has a fork of TikTok.

Does that worry you as much as you claim generative AI worries you? No, not really. It should, though — dopamine hit over-saturation affects everybody, not just starving artists and web developers. So why are we letting this be normalized?

Simple: only a few of us are smart. They are sitting at the top of these ladders, watching. They know how to use the contents of these boxes to their profit and benefit. Those of us who know but aren't smart enough are left in the dump.

But I'm Only Human

What does it mean to be "smart", or to be "stupid"? What does that have to do with AI usage?

Provocative language aside, stupidity is human. Stupidity gives us nuanced and novel ways to look at problems, and honestly we need more stupidity to brute-force an idea. It's not inherently an insult.

But in this very case, stupidity is exactly why you are angry at generative AI. Think about it. Your anger must come from somewhere, right?

Who is talking the most about AI? Online, it's these influencers feigning concern over artists and creatives. They rally behind the idea that art is something human, and that AI is out there to get them.

In reality, AI development actually pivots more towards automation than creative work. If you look at generative models such as Midjourney or Nano Banana, these are byproducts.

The real money is on surveillance and control. Told you the Facebook comparison was apt. We are made to be angry at the toxic sludge of AI-generated slop, not at why they are developing such advanced methods of image manipulation and generation.

It's only human to make mistakes and be stupid. One aspect of stupidity is to fixate on the minute detail that pisses you off and fail to recognize that being angry at it consumes all the rightful anger you could direct towards beings so far removed from humanity that they don't even see you artists as worthwhile enough to feed.

The Actors, Puppeteers, and The Strings

Then again, I am also human. I don't claim to be anything but the same puppet as you, dancing around on strings held by names like Thiel, Musk, and Gates — and those are probably only actor names themselves, not the real puppeteers. We are all just dancing to a rhythm we don't even recognize.

Surveillance and control — those are the two words you need to hammer into your head. Start questioning why, and redirect your anger not towards the consumers and makers of slop you think are your enemies. They are there as minions, unworthy of your gaze if you are truly angry.

If you're not angry enough, then this message is not for you. I don't care about you. You can be angry at what you deem worth being angered about.

This is for those of us who didn't know at first who to be angry at. Your next question should be "why". Not "how" or "who", but "why". Why did Silicon Valley pivot from a free and open-source culture into producing closed spaces and environments akin to gated communities? Why did we lose the magic of the old internet and the beauty of anonymity while celebrating the fact that we could contact relatives who probably never cared about us at all? Why do these things happen in such a short amount of time, and why now of all times?

I am not against the usage of AI.

I would never deny the use of it.

But I know that I am human.

Stupidity

I am stupid, and I know it. Humans are stupid. We are all human, and we're still going to be human ten, twenty years from now.

If we don't start asking questions, we'll lose that humanity next year. Generative AI models are getting stronger, smarter, and less detectable by the second. Newer and newer polish is being added to these agents, and they can now generate more than just blurry faces and misshapen hands.

You are not angry at the way they draw, these AIs. You are really angry about the fact that those who pushed for it don't see you as human.

If that's not the most human thought you've ever had, I don't know what is.

So be stupid. Ask questions. Read more.

It's the only human thing to do from this point on.