The Price of Convenience (AI and Beyond)
In the discussion surrounding generative AI and large language models, I sense a culture suffering a catastrophic and inevitable injury resulting from an entrenched narrative framework that has long insisted it’s natural to value “stuff” over people.
This narrative has broken a lot of brains.
So, we have CEOs celebrating that now the “stuff” can be self-generating. New “stuff” that makes more “stuff” without that pesky need to pay anyone.
It’s a turning away from the reasons we valued things like art and story and music in the first place, as a way to connect with our big human family and gain a deeper understanding of ourselves through the work of seeking to understand others.
The idea of outsourcing the defining human project of building bridges between minds and lives, of spending creative effort to make meaning together, is like agreeing to live the rest of one’s life in solitary confinement in exchange for millions of dollars. What good is all that money in isolation, divorced from what made it significant?
What good is art or story or conversation connected to nobody.
Yeah, you can ask a machine to pretend to be a storyteller or a lover or a painter. You can also draw-up your own diploma. You could pay for a ride to a marathon finish line and throw your arms up in victory. You could 3D print an ear and whisper your hopes and dreams into it. You could mail yourself a love letter or spend and evening singing a lullaby to a plastic doll. You could fake all sorts of human endeavor, but why would you want to?
I understand why a profit-centered enterprise wants to convince you to spend your time singing those lullabies to their branded, trademarked plastic dolls. But why would any of us meet them halfway?
AI slop represents a sad and chronic pathology, but the good news is that (with a little intention) it doesn’t seem terribly difficult to defeat. Afterall, we determine value. The people trying to own and automate the defining projects of human life and snare our attention can’t do it without our buy-in. They can’t spend our money or our life-minutes without our participation.
So, ask yourself: Do you want the meaning in your life to come via subscription service to a corporation with the explicit mission of enriching their shareholders? Do you want to spend your limited life-minutes on stuff made by nobody? Do you want to support creators who can’t be bothered to see through the entire creation, messy flaws and all? Here in your one precious life, are unethically sourced remixes of stolen human ingenuity worth your time and money? Especially when the real thing is vitally alive and well and waiting to connect with you, living mind to mind, beating heart to heart.
Are a bundle of old habits and conveniences really worth the price they are asking of us?
I have my answer. And so I’ve been canceling subscriptions services. I’ve stopped spending money at a handful of prominent corporations who are turning toward AI or empowering fascists. I’ve accepted the sting of realization that I never really “owned” the things I bought from streaming services. I’ve started collecting physical media again and learning to wait longer for packages. I’m becoming a regular at local businesses. I’ve started thinking of my attention span as an asset to treasure and cultivate. I’ve realized that there are a lot of sharp, rusty hooks dangling in modern life that are baited with habit and convenience. I’ve found that the pain and pull is not worth the brief flavor of the bait.
Yeah, there will be people who embrace AI and everything it represents. Let ‘em. Just don’t give them access to you or your talents and resources.
None of our efforts can/will be perfect or pure or complete. Such is life. But never underestimate a consistent commitment to doing more than nothing to bring forth the future you want to have.
Meanwhile, we can recognize a cautionary tale when we see it and learn the lessons it offers. We can double-down on our support of what we recognize to be the authentic and vital centers of human society. We can collaborate to make and articulate the principles we need to face these new threats together. (It’s what people do.)
I’ve found convenience is a poor substitute for my humanity. If we want a society built for people, it needs to be built by people. And that requires a bit of effort and intention from all of us. Active participation in shaping the world is a habit we can all cultivate and it’s worth it.
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