The AI conundrum.
To a dear friend.
I have to be honest with you, I understand that this topic is a massive point of friction for you, and in the end I cannot disagree with the reasons that you feel this way. It is a hard truth that the world our species has created has been vastly dictated by the whims and desires of the masses. Most of the time, technological advancement taking precedent over true quality of life for humans. And what’s even worse is that most of the people seem to be wholeheartedly willing to accept any new status quo as long as it makes their life easier in some way.
Even if this technological advancement comes at the cost of millions of men, women and children writhing away at factories producing the components required to feed this relentlessly insatiable machine, and even if endless tons of water are wasted in what seems like a system designed and perfectly built to alienate people more than ever and sever them from the very thing that makes us human and gives any real meaning in our lives:
Authenticity, the never-ending pursuit of self improvement, empathy towards those that suffer, and the human spark of creativity.
I realize that these points are a pain in your soul that as a fellow creative person you are unable to come to terms with. But, please try to understand that we are not your enemies.
God knows that the few of us that we choose to have and keep in our lives are mostly if not entirely driven by similar feelings and similar emotions regarding this unfair and soul crunchingly unjust system we humans have created. You know that me and the others have suffered in some ways in life, partly similar to yours, and partly not so much, always in just enough ways though to feel like the ones that do not fit this world, that cannot be like others in this world. Yet despite our efforts sometimes we find ourselves incapable of being anything other than who we really are.
We may find the use of AI beneficial or even bemusing to us and our creative pursuits, sometimes able to assist us with small parts that we otherwise would not be able to create (music/illustrations) but we do not put our heads in the sand and pretend that the costs of AI are not real and indeed devastating.
We do not refuse it’s use because we find acceptable the suffering of human lives elsewhere in the planet, in a dark, cold environment where their suffering will never find justice. Nor do we refuse the incomprehensible amounts of water that are currently wasted by many standards to a technological pursuit that in the end can hardly promise wealth or improvement for the majority of people’s lives, instead it ensures those things for the very few that control this beast.
We instead believe that the fallacy of individual responsibility cannot and will not tip the scale of destruction that is caused by the absence of regulation or the enablement of corrupt state bodies.
As singular entities, we have very little power to enact meaningful change as we are not people that have the stomach to pursue professional careers that might bring us to a future position capable to enact these changes upon the world.
We are and always have been outsiders just as you. However, feeling enraged and reacting with exasperated remarks regarding our justification for using such technology in our lives does not improve the landscape, for small as our circle is, such remarks oftentimes run the risk of shrinking it ever more.
We only have each other and in the end if we were to truly hold ourselves responsible for the devastating impact our small pleasures in life have caused, we would refuse to buy cheap clothes, smartphones, play videogames, use the internet and use most of the technology in our present life that is also very responsible and has been up until this point for the destruction of our planet and the feeling of isolation most of us feel nowadays.
I only implore you that the next time you find a specific aspect of our daily lives offensive to your sensitivities, you consider the possibility that we also have sensitivities of our own, and that if we were to talk about these aspects respectfully and calmly, we would never really object your worldviews, we just choose a different choice than you do while still harboring the same kindred spirit within our hearts and minds.
Your friend.
PS. This was not generated by an AI, just your fellow human