There's been a lot of talk about AI these days. For better or worse, it's here to stay, at least until the next big thing comes around. I do believe it has its uses, but I am strongly against it winnowing its way into writing and the arts no matter how cool it reads or looks.
Getting short shrift is its kid brother, robotics, which has been around for decades. I'm sure AI was in development a lot earlier than we can imagine, too, as the two are actually mutually compatible.
This article from MAN'S MAGAZINE (November 1959) reads more like a cautionary tale than something that would be chatted up more positively in say, POPULAR SCIENCE or POPULAR MECHANICS.
Once again I am reminded of Jeff Goldblum's character in JURASSIC PARK when he remarked: “Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."
As someone who once struggled to get work as a freelance illustrator-- and finally threw in the towel when the internet meant you were now competing with some guy in Singapore who could do it for a fraction of your rates-- the very existence of AI-generated "illustration" makes my blood boil.
ReplyDeleteHowever, every example I've run across online seems impressive at first glance-- but a closer look reveals obvious "tells" that no human mind was involved in the creation, because of all the subtle but ridiculous errors in the image.
So it's simultaneously amusing and slightly reassuring to see this 65-year-old article grimly warning that "it's time to wonder: WILL AUTOMATION COST YOU YOUR JOB?"
And let's not forget the closing moments of the classic film DINNER AT EIGHT (1933), in which social-climbing floozy Kitty (Jean Harlow) and society doyenne Carlotta (Marie Dressler) are discussing this same fear-- *91 years ago* :
Kitty: I was reading a book the other day.
Carlotta (staggering in surprise): Reading a *book*?
Kitty: Yes. It's all about civilization or something. A nutty kind of a book. Do you know that the guy says that *machinery* is going to take the place of every profession?
Carlotta (eyeing Kitty's figure on display in a tight dress): Oh, my dear, that's something *you* need never worry about.
hsc
Thanks for the poignant comments on this topic. I had a similar thing happen to me in the late 70s-early 80's when I was working in the animation industry in Hollywood, including with Hanna-Barbera which was located in Studio City in the San Fernando valley. Xeroxed cels (not many were 100% hand-inked in those days) were being shipped to Taiwan to be painted and they would be shipped back in such a crappy state as a result of humidity and other factors that we spent the lion's share of our time scraping and re-painting them. What a waste . . .
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