erns, culture, and theft //
AI is here and can draw, code, or create with greater skill than most people.
It is very efficient, fast, and very affordable.
Some creators are outraged, it’s understandable. They claim that an AI can be trained to look at their photos, architectural designs, or cartoons. This is a form theft.
This is not a good idea.
An art student can study all of Picasso’s 10,000 paintings, and then create a new painting that is clearly inspired by them. This is called the advancement of culture. It is the same if a writer uses words that were created by Shakespeare or if a graffiti artist is clearly inspired By Shepard Fairey.
This is how culture evolves. It’s not theft to take an idea. It is an inexplicable to take an idea. Ideas are for all.
It wouldn’t be the same without you. It’s impossible to make a cake, drive your car, or write a sentence without knowing what happened before.
GPT and other AI tools aren’t able to do anything. They are pattern matchers and extenders. These patterns are known as culture.
(Aside: Copyright and trademark are two different things. Copyright is a small protection for the craft of creativity and specific outputs. Trademarks are a way to show the world who created something. Someone who uses AI to imitate an artist’s style, and then attempts to pass it off to the world as being from that artist, is theft. Theft of trademark. (A different discussion will follow.)
It’s a sign that you have made an impact on culture if a computer or person copies your style. The only way to respond is to dig deeper to make an impact on the culture and not to try to add to our shared modes.
Only the work of others can allow creators to create. We create by adding to the work of others so they can do the same.
