I think I've finally nailed down something that's bothered me about the fucking ai boom and it's that it sucks literally ALL of the joy and whimsy out of making something that's kind of mediocre
Because yeah good art takes time! And focus and dedication and learning and SKILL, and that's all stuff AI is stripping away, but you PASS that time and gain that learning and skill by making stuff that's at worst very bad and at best kind of mid because you don't know what you're doing, but making the stuff that's mid is fun! Which is part of why you tried doing it in the first place!
I think that's one of the things that both enrages and baffles me most about the pro AI people who are like "well without it I can't do the thing" because you CAN! you just won't do it particularly well the first dozen or so times, but it's not exactly like AI is making you into da Vinci, you're not toppling shakespeare, you're using a machine to churn out regurgitated slop that at its worst is completely terrible and at the absolute pinnacle is a pallid amalgamation of stolen works that is still fucking mid.
And yeah, it's so, so clear those people are interested just in the profit, of selling whatever kind of stolen respun nonsense the ai comes up with, but I hear them try to hawk that product and AI to everyone and as well as engaging me it just makes me kind of sad because fucking hell, haven't any of those people ever spent a week making, I don't know, kind of shit woven bracelets because you got inspired to try out jewelry making or made a lopsided clay pot or spun up a hacky ghost story just shooting the shit with friends? Why are you so desperate to make something "sellable" that you're outsourcing pleasure and fun and connection to a machine run by corporate ghouls?
Good art takes time, and dedication and patience, but the mid art you made to get there is so, so important, not just as a stepping stone to skill but to the real shit (feeling and passion and a voice) that vaults art over that line to good in the first place. Plus the goddamn process is fun!
Anyway, fuck ai. Make something kinda mid this week






















