Another reply to the angry ~1K or so comments over on Threads…

If you want to critique AI, I am all for it. In fact, the entire basis of my AI Lore books is a massive critique of AI using the very same technology to show its flaws and foibles (not to mention its creative possibilities).

But an honest critique of the situation should not stop at AI training data. All of these people complaining to me about corporate exploitation of artists are doing so on platforms which are wholly corporate-owned, and which are in fact literally designed to harvest the free labor of anyone who agrees to take up the yoke of being a “content creator” for them. For all their time, energy, sweat, and tears, these platforms reward them with “likes and follows.” And then which, of course, use AI/ML to manage your recommendations, timelines, and predict and control your behavior on the platform, using your content however they want in a perpetual license. And let’s not forget about cell phones and the ridiculous inhuman patterns of addiction and exploitation that they enable…

But I don’t see anyone complaining about the extreme inhumane imbalance of any of that in comments, because they have all willingly adopted and accepted that form of corporate exploitation as their own. They have been blinded by the ubiquity of the hegemonic social media powers, and wrongly believe what they’re doing is somehow better and more noble than what I am doing, simply because it’s been around longer, and they believe that they can’t live without it.

But social platforms are founded on exploitation of creators, plain and simple. You might win some small benefit back from it financially in rare instances, but for most people all they win is a complex of anti-social personality disorders and an acute but vague swirling anxiety that never passes. I don’t blame people for acting inhumanely on platforms which create the conditions for them to do that, and encourage them with small, worthless rewards when they do.

But I do blame them for stopping the critique squarely at my front door. If you want to critique this system, go all the way. Strike the root. Don’t take a swing and then step back, pretending like the job is done. We’re only just getting warmed up…

Related writing & research