Dear Beloved Simblr:
Don't let 'What if it's AI?' Stop You from Reblogging Stuff Altogether!
It won't be good for human Simblr creators.
I don't want to reblog from the person directly cuz I don't wanna put them on the spot nor do I want them to think I'm lecturing them, but I think people who are scared to reblog in case something is AI, I honestly think that's not the way to go. So people are scared of:
'I can't tell if it's AI-generated, I'm scared to reblog it in case it is and then I will feel bad for supporting AI / people will hate me and think I'm pro-AI'.
So let's go through a few things.
There is nothing you can do to stop Tumblrinas thinking you reblogged it on purpose.
I've spoke about the 'torch and pitchforks' mentality before, and it's kind of along those lines.
Tumblr will more often assume you are a dangerous person than not. Sometimes for non-bad and very understandable reasons (Multiply marginalised people are of course going to be more wary of others because of bigotry, that is understandable)
and sometimes for bad reasons (Shitty people love to claim other people are bad people, and those people love smear campaigns. How often have you seen otherwise-toxic people decide to be anti-AI?).
There sadly is nothing you can do to stop people thinking you might have reblogged AI stuff on purpose. I don't say that in a blunt way, just a 'it is what it is' way.
You are not a bad person if you reblogged something AI-generated and didn't know. No matter how much someone else says you are, you aren't.
Second point: If you let the panic and anxiety of AI stop you from supporting others, then that defeats a part of the purpose of being anti-generative-AI. One aspect of being anti-generative-AI is the 'support humans'. Greatly lessening your support in paranoia doesn't do that.
Let's face it: As with any morality issue that ends up taking centre stage on Tumblr, People learn to be angry and afraid, but not everyone figures out the 'why' part, and so sometimes they end up kind of accidentally shooting themselves and others in the foot.
For example, transphobia: Loads of people only know to say 'kill all transphobes', they never learn the ins and outs of why it is a dangerous thing.
It's the same with AI. Some folks who are anti-AI don't think about the reason part. They don't think of the polluting issues, the way people who unlearn an ability of how to do things without generative AI doing it for them are easier to control by the higher-ups, its toxic addictive nature to some people, its replacing of human connection, the issues it causes actual creatives. etc: People just know they shouldn't like AI, to block other people who use AI, and to be deathly afraid of being assumed to be pro-AI.
If you are terrified of reblogging something in case it's generative AI, then you will in turn end up lessening your support of creators, as I would say that human creatives in this community outweigh the AI fakers. And 'it's bad for creatives' is a large part of why people don't like generative AI. So you have to make sure it doesn't stop you from supporting creatives entirely.
You can always DM your close friends first and ask them if they think it's AI before you use the CC / reblog the post.
If you're really super duper worried, get a second pair of eyes - it can help you figure out what's AI slop and what isn't. My close friends do this with me, and I help them figure out whether to block or not.
Remember there is no one guaranteed way to determine what is AI-generated and what isn't. It is not always obvious because of technology advancements and increased sneakiness.
Sometimes it's dead obvious, but sometimes not. Now, this doesn't happen often in THIS community, but on Tumblr in general, people make AI claims quite a lot with some very loose 'proof'.
Remember, if you are going to publicly accuse someone of using AI make sure you have proof, have verified it amongst other people (helps to do this with people who are neutral against the accused to help prevent bias) and have good reason for your assumptions. I've seen a few artists on Tumblr get accused of AI over admitted 'hunches'.
I get that moral scrupulosity runs rife on this website, and some people can't help that, but please try not to let this scare you off from being supportive of Simblrs who don't use AI! Remember that a lot of us are human creatives, don't let your fellow hoomins down over AI slop < 3
