Is Artificial Intelligence Threatening Creative Spaces?

There's no doubt about it, Artificial Intelligence has had a spike in popularity over recent years and now, we can't turn on our phones or watch an ad on television without having A.I. generated content pushed in our faces. 

Let’s be realistic, Artificial Intelligence is not new, it has been in development for decades with early A.I. technology appearing around 1950’s - so why now are so many people deciding to express their concern? While I won’t be pushing fear narratives and offering predictions for IRobot IRL, there are a number of sociological considerations which are impacted by individual ethical and moral values. 

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is a set of technologies that enables computers to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence such as learning, reasoning, problem solving, perception and decision making.  

It would be ignorant for anyone to claim A.I is bad, point blank, no grey area and no room for further study, understanding and progression. Artificial Intelligence can be a great tool, when it comes to scheduling, data collection and other computer-based tasks, though it still has its limitations. There are also a number of uses for A.I that have been developed which improve the lifestyle and accessibility for many including text to speech / speech to text features, Grammarly and auto correct, digital language translators, and fraud detection technology.

In the creative space, it even has a place in helping teams conceptualize and brainstorm, getting on the same page before investing time and money into a project. This can be a lifesaver for small brands and start up creators who don’t have a lot to invest. A.I, and the research in this space holds a space, we will not deny that. But when we are looking at creative media, we feel A.I output has no place as a finished, sellable product. 

Artificial Intelligence is just that, artificial. There is no life, no soul, no human connection and shared experience. No love, no celebration; no loss, no pain. 

The digital world of social media was designed with connection in mind but over time it has become an endless scrolling feed of mind-numbing content which ironically pulls us further and further into social isolation. As a species, our human connection and brain capacity have suffered greatly from a social perspective, and just when people have grown tired of the brain fog and subway surfers overlaps, out comes A.I slop and fully generated ‘human’ content often undetectable from the real deal to rot our brains further. 

Yes, businesses need to sell to audiences to make money, but when did we lose our connection to people all together? Combined with get rich quick schemes, there is endless content online offering tutorials and support…

YouTube Video: How To Use An AI Art Generator To Create & Sell Print on Demand Products on Etsy

Don’t want to spend time improving your art to sell real original creations? Don’t worry about it! Just generate stolen art content through A.I generators and slap it on a shirt, then print on demand. You don’t have to make the content, you don't have to waste time selling the product, A.I chat bots can manage the comments on your digital store… No human contact required. Isn’t it great!

Look, love it or hate it, that's up to you. We hope you will carve your own opinion from your own lived experience and your own research over time, that's what is so great about being human. For us, as a brand? Ethically we say no and the sociological impact in the world right now saddens us. Unless there are significant changes to the development of A.I systems in future, I don't see our position changing.

If there is one thing I ask you to take away from this post, it would be: AI is a tool, use it, don't let it use you. Our projects may not be perfect and that is okay, mistakes are human and embracing them is how we learn and improve. We chose projects at Bad Taste based on a genuine passion to make them and an impatient excitement to see our ideas come to life and have you enjoy it too. When supporting us we hope you know that we are real people who appreciate your feedback and engagement every step of the way.

How do you feel about A.I and what ways do you find it useful in your day-to-day life? Did we miss anything? Comment down below or jump on over to our YouTube and chat with Ben on his latest video My Thoughts on AI...