Culture is made of humans, and generative AI can't change that
culture.ghost.io
culture.ghost.io
What's being argued is that the capitalists who control the industry of art will force it on consumers. Which is already happening - AI is being used to generate everything from game assets to product photos to movie trailers whether you like it or not.
This is not about culture in the ephemeral sense, and I really wish AI opponents would stop framing their arguments that way, because it does not matter. The "inherent humanity" and "je ne sais quoi" of "true art" speaking to "fundamental human experience" is not relevant to this conversation. 99% of the art people encounter in their lives is not a profound expression of a soul bleeding onto canvas, it's a means created by a corporation of selling a product.
Culture is already machine generated. It already comes out of a box. People will learn to accept AI generated media for the simple reason that corporations will normalize it and create the push to make it trend through influence and social media. They already control your reality.
Yes, people will still value human generated art but when all of it is pushed to the fringe, what does that matter?
After leaving…well, it's astounding how little any of that really has an effect on me or anyone else I can think of.
Throughout history, there are quick cultural flashpoints, sure…but most of the time the really good stuff is a slow burn, a simmer. It eventually rises to the top, but casually, organically. Most "overnight" successes are 5, 10, 20 years in the making. Algorithms are a poor, poor substitute for IRL curation.