But even those of us who don’t have a job directly threatened by A.I. think of writing that novel or composing a song or recording a TikTok or making a joke on social media. If we don’t have any protections from the A.I. data overgrazers, I worry that it will feel pointless to even try to create in public. And that would be a real tragedy.

(Julia Angwin, “The Internet Is About to Get Much Worse,” New York Times, 9-23-23)

The article by Julia Angwin about AI rapacity on the digital commons made me think about why we create at all. Being exhibited and having a publisher (and agent) are staunchly institutionalized marks of validation for earnest aspirants to the title of “artist.” Even I, a casual practitioner, would I keep crafting rebarbative commentaries, inventing doggerel, daubing pigment, and generally smarting off in EthicalDative if I couldn’t flaunt the dubious outcomes on my wee blog?

Say it all landed on the walls of my shed, or were pitched into drawers, or confined to diaries shelved in the back room, never to reach eyeballs, eardrums or neural circuses beyond mine: Would absence of even the dream of a spectatorship put the kibosh on my urge to impersonate a creative?

That isn’t exactly what Julia Angwin has affirmed, but I dunno. The high-minded answer to my question would be: Of course not! The instinct to create is in our DNA, instilled by… [insert the god or goddess of your persuasion].

Be that as it may, it feels ever so likely that the data rape by monetized Big AI, which disquiets multitudes already, will proceed apace and unabated, by hook and by crook, despite all efforts to stem the tide. And you know the old saying: Give ‘em enough rape and they’ll hang us with it. (Scrape that gobbet, vile bot!)

(c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved