With AI slop showing up everywhere, there’s a real danger that folks will just no longer be motivated to produce real original content.
With all major models not basically trained on nearly all available data, beyond the financial AI bubble about to burst there’s also a big content bubble that’s about exhausted as folks are just pumping out slop vs producing original creative human output. That may be the ultimate long term tragedy of the present AI hype cycle. Expect “made by a human” to soon be a tag associated with premium brands and customer experiences.
> Expect “made by a human” to soon be a tag associated with premium brands and customer experiences.
I went to a grammar school and I write in mostly pretty high-quality sentences with a bit of British English colloquialism. I spell well, spend time thinking about what I am saying and try to speak clearly, etc.
I've always tried to be kind about people making errors but I am currently retraining my mind to see spelling mistakes and grammar errors as inherent authenticity. Because one thing ChatGPT and its ilk cannot do -- I guess architecturally —- is act convincingly like those who misspell, accidentally coin new eggcorns, accidentally use malapropisms, or use novel but terrible grammar.
And you're right: IMO the rage against the cultural damage AI will do is only just beginning, and I don't think people have clocked on to the fact that economic havoc is built-in, success or failure.
The web/AI/software-tech industry will be loathed even more than it is now (and this loathing is increasingly justified)
> one thing ChatGPT and its ilk cannot do -- I guess architecturally —- is act convincingly like those who misspell, accidentally coin new eggcorns, accidentally use malapropisms, or use novel but terrible grammar
Just wait a few more years until the majority of ChatGPT training data is filled with misspellings, accidental eggcorns, malapropisms and terrible grammar.
It is of no cost to me when someone else writes a book, plays a song or draws a picture. It is also true that, basically whatever I ever do, someone else has done better. This does not stop me from doing those things because the value within them is in doing them.
We have cars, buses and planes, yet people do partake in pilgrimages. The process matters, even if only personally.
> folks will just no longer be motivated to produce real original content.
Honestly if your only motivation for creating art was “computers can’t do what I do” then… I don’t want to be too gatekeepy about it, but that doesn’t sound like you’re a ‘real’ artist to me. Real artists create art because they enjoy doing it, not because it’s the exclusive domain of humans.
You don’t need to be special, you don’t need to be the best, you don’t need to even be good or successful or recognized or appreciated (although of course all those things are nice) - you just have to be creating art.
AI slop is like 90’s websites and desktop publishing - there’s a novelty for AI-newbie-creators driving them to churn out lazy crap, while being oblivious to how it lands with strangers.
Tastes will mature, society will more vocally mock this crap, and we’ll stop seeing the sloppier stuff come out of reputable locations.
You assume that the public recognizes AI slop for what it is. Across platforms now, people are readily engaging with blatant AI text posts and generated images as if they are bona-fide. In fact, if you point out that the poster is a bot, you may well well get some flack from the community.
Plastic/synthetics are the slop of the physical world. They're a side product of extracting oil and gas so they're extremely cheap.
Yet if you look at synthetics by volume, probably 99% of them are used just because they're cheaper than the natural alternative. Yes, some have characteristics that are novel, but by and large everything we do with plastics is ultimately based on "they're cheaper".
> With AI slop showing up everywhere, there’s a real danger that folks will just no longer be motivated to produce real original content.
I think people would still produce original things as long they have the means for doing it. I guess we could say it is our nature. My fear is AI monopolizing the wealth that once would go to support people producing art.
This. I still produce original things and will continue to do so until I am incapable anymore. What's changed, though, is that I no longer put or discuss those things on the open internet because there's no realistic way to prevent it from getting used to train genAI models.
With all major models not basically trained on nearly all available data, beyond the financial AI bubble about to burst there’s also a big content bubble that’s about exhausted as folks are just pumping out slop vs producing original creative human output. That may be the ultimate long term tragedy of the present AI hype cycle. Expect “made by a human” to soon be a tag associated with premium brands and customer experiences.