TW: Language
I’m tired of seeing everything adopt AI. I’m tired of reading an article on a topic I’m interested in only to realize halfway through that the piece was largely written by AI. I’m tired fighting for control of my creativeness with a hunk of metal taught to use an advanced statistical analytics model.
I’m solving real problems using AI. It’s doing the work of entire departments for me!
You just aren’t using it correctly.
You’re going to be left in the dust.
Whatever, man. I hope the people making these claims actually enjoy using AI, because I don’t.
I like writing software. I like figuring out hard problems. I like writing, reading, making art. I don’t want to be more productive doing these things, I want to simply enjoy doing them because I like the process of creating something new. I like the pride I feel when I can show off something I’ve made to someone else and there is a real appreciation for it.
And maybe that’s what I utlimately miss with AI; there’s no human connection, there’s no pride. Only work. Be more productive, be faster, who cares about better?
Do I want to be better at my job? Of course. Do I want to be faster and deliver better results? Resoundingly yes!
AI is not my answer. Practice is.
And if at any point you read this article and think, “AI could’ve made this better” - I don’t care. This was written by a human and I’m happy it’s as imperfect as it is; because I like who I am and I’ll never let some predefined software model dictate otherwise.
It’s not really enjoyable to make music now … it takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of practice, you need to get really good at an instrument or really good at a piece of production software. I think the majority of people don’t enjoy the majority of time they spend making music. ~ Suno AI CEO
I was classically trained in piano and music theory. It was hard, I didn’t always enjoy it, but I didn’t quit and that itself has had the most impact on my life. Learning an instrument takes time, learning anything takes time. If you’re not willing to put in the time, you’re not going to get better and you’re not going to enjoy it. But when you do get better, nailing that piece you’ve been working on for weeks? Incredible feeling. Unlike any other. A real “fuck yeah” moment.
And the resilency you build to keep practicing and keep trying at something over and over again … you need that in life. This isn’t just about art, this is about teaching real life lessons that are completely bypassed when you give up and default to using AI.
Making music isn’t work, it’s art, and art is meant to be enjoyed. Without people to enjoy it, what’s the point? The failure to see art as anything but something to be productivized is hell and I refuse to accept it as normal. There’s no human connection, there’s no pride. Only work.
I have been witnessing more and more people justifying their use of AI. I read a Reddit post about using AI to write entire scenes and encounters in tabletop roleplaying games because “AI can do it better” or because “players expect more.”
I cannot emphasize this enough: You are playing a GAME. You are meant to be having FUN. What the actual fuck? This is so sad to read.
This is the equivalent of paying to play an escape room and then using ChatGPT to help you escape. My friend, HAVE SOME FUN. Please, I’m begging you.
If you’re not having fun, stop playing or find something else to do that you will have fun doing.
If your players expect more, have a conversation and work together. That teaches comradarie and teamwork. Using AI to keep the ball moving is one of the most depressing things I’ve read recently. There’s no joy, there’s no human connection, there’s no pride. Only work.
It’s one thing to use AI to generate a character token for a one-shot, it’s an entirely different beast to use AI art exclusively in a product you intend to sell. If you’re writing or making anything using AI and then selling it, you’re lazy, you are accomplishing nothing, and I will not cry over any lack of success you face.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: people are imperfect, they are messy, and that’s what makes us interesting. Tabletop roleplaying games are rooted in real conflict with people and beings; it craves some level of imperfectness.
Not every story is good, not every creature is perfectly balanced, not every adventurer has the perfect plan.
Give yourself some grace, fail a little, fail a lot. Learn. Get better.
Without the bad, how do you know what is good?
I’m not naive nor stupid. I know why every company is betting on AI. It promises quality work that is cheap and fast. The classic “you can have quality, speed, or cost - pick 2” problem no longer exists. But it does exist, it’s just now one of the levers you must choose to balance is “actual human impact.”
I feel bad for the people who rely on AI. They aren’t being taught to fail in spectacular ways and then get up try again. They aren’t learning that failure is acceptable. They aren’t learning anything. And I don’t mean to generalize; I know people will make the argument that they way they use AI is better because reasons. But there is a non-insiginifant amount of people out there who have become dependent on AI’s existance, and it’s sad. It’s sad that they are being robbed of humanity, what it means to fail then succeed, what it means to create something with your own hands and be recognized for it, what it means to work together to achieve something greater than themselves.
But I will not cry when AI inevenitably does fail.
Fuck AI.