AI: HUMANITY’S CREEPING DEATH
On generative AI, and its impact on humanity
NPZ #3 — JANUARY 2025 — PAGE 3
“The Creeping Death of Human Originality” is what I titled a class essay where the prompt was about using ChatGPT for essays. My main points of opposition were 1) ChatGPT and AI-generative technology use a crazy amount of power/energy that is not environmentally sustainable (Commons), 2) AI-gen tech is not always trained on ethically sourced material, and infringes on the work of other people who aren’t credited or compensated, 3) replacing the task of writing and reading with AI tools is a disservice to yourself, you’ll become straight up dumber, less capable of critical thinking and original thought, and thus more susceptible to things like propaganda, misinformation, and manipulation.
My reasons against AI image generation are even more personal, as an artist, and a working one at that. Art is a beautiful and deeply human capability to express and depict ideas that transcend language and time. To see ART of all things being a market that certain companies seek to replace humans with machine-learning is a fucking insult and a grave threat to the future of human originality, creativity, and even to the extent of freedom of thought and expression.
This is why it’s disappointing whenever I see AI used in metal, both underground and “mainstream”. At record stores I’ve found AI covers for albums ranging from the couple-thousand-listeners on spotify, to Metallica tribute compilations, to OG bands like Deicide in their newest 2024 release. A big one recently was one Serj Tankian, posting an AI-generated “music video” for a solo song on his twitter and turning off replies. Another example, Warbringer’s new single (pg. 1), with comments on the announcement post suspecting the cover having AI assets (which I agree with), versus the praise for their upcoming album cover made by German artist, Andreas Marschall, who’s worked with bands like Obituary, Kreator, etc. Clearly, the fans don’t want AI slop! Another awesome artist in the scene, Alex Bosoy, has more words on this on the facing page that summarize my final thoughts on AI in metal perfectly.
There are certainly places where “AI”—or rather machine-learning—can be great, like medicine, science, etc. It can be used to increase the flow of work, like in keyframe animation (Spiderverse style) and grammar checking. Yet, when it is used to replace working artists—as it does everytime you see a flyer, album cover, profile icon, billboard, etc. that is AI-generated—in what way is AI really “helping” humanity, and not just a way for the capitalist to cut corners and gain profits?
I’ve heard “stop fighting automation” enough before, and while I’d argue something like art shouldn’t HAVE to be automated, I also found a really interesting point from the history of workers vs. automation. In an article from The Progressive about the “luddite” movement in the early 1800s, it clarifies they were not necessarily against all technology as many use the term currently, but rather “True Luddism was about locating exactly where elites were using technology to the disadvantage of the human being, and organizing to fight back…[i]f the Luddites have taught us anything, it’s that robots aren’t taking our jobs. Our bosses are.” (The Progressive)
Living in SF, there are AI services advertised everywhere. There was a recent outrage where an AI tech company advertised a reactionary tagline “Stop Hiring Humans” (SF Chronicle). Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, had this wonderfully ominous quote: “AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there’ll be great companies.” Trump just announced the day after his inauguration working with Altman and others to start a program called Stargate and invest $500 billion dollars in building “AI infrastructure” (CNN). An OpenAI whistleblower was found dead in his SF apartment not too long ago (PBS News). AI has been used by the military (search “Lavender Program”) to make decisions that lead to civilians being targeted and furthering genocide while ridding the human operators of direct responsibility (972 Mag).
As it stands, I do not believe the current form of AI-technology being distributed from the top-down is going to do anything to truly improve the quality of life for the everyday person. And the more it is used, the better it is trained to be used for replacing a human workforce, and for continued violence in areas with exploitable resources. Every search, prompt, and generated image is feeding this machine that is made first and foremost with the corporate interests in mind. So to me, every time you put your labor into training that machine, you are feeding it a bit of your soul as you choose the elite-controlled robot over your fellow people, and over yourself. I think it is our duty, especially as artists, to refuse and reject these technologies unless they are controlled and regulated by the people, and for the people.
So please, don’t use AI-generation for your next single cover or flyer. Consider supporting artists in the scene, and the internet is a great way to connect with artists to fit all kinds of styles, budgets, bandwidths, etc. Check out pgs. 13-16 for some artists looking for work!
