Why the Anti-AI Crowd Was Wrong (BUT Why You Are Too)

The term “AI” gets used way too loosely. It means something different to everybody, and the market still hasn’t settled on what the tasteful version of this technology even looks like. So two people can argue about AI and talk right past each other.

And yes, the economics still have to figure themselves out. OpenAI is not turning a profit. That is not sustainable, and with the amount of investment pouring into this, something is going to give at some point. What it looks like on the other side of that is anybody’s guess.

But that is not really what this video is about.

A while back I made a video about AI in relation to art. One of the things I said was that a lot of artists reacted to this technology with ego and arrogance. Not that they had to use it or like it, but the way many of them went about it publicly, talking down to people, telling them they were stupid, did nothing but make it more appealing for the people who commission creators to find a way around them. Those industries never looked at you the way you look at yourself. You were always a means to an end. The arrogance just validated why they were so ready to move on.

Now I am starting to see the exact same habits from people who are pro AI.

I understand the excitement. If capital was the thing standing between you and your idea, this tech looks like a liberator. You can finally see things come to life. You can fill the gaps you could not fill before, and do it affordably. I get it.

But the gloating is a mistake. Take a step back and remember what that attitude did to Hollywood. And you do not have legacy IPs at your disposal to carry you through it.

It is not unreasonable for people who have spent their careers in an industry to voice concerns. Somebody saying they are worried about what this means for their field is not an attack on you. The answer to that is not “this is what you get, prepare for the future.” The answer is showing them how this could be a force multiplier for their own original ideas.

And understand that when you picture the people raising concerns, you may be picturing a major studio or publisher. A lot of the time it is an indie dev who put out something they worked hard on and watched somebody decompile it and ship a clone.

The markets are strange right now. Certain websites are not indicative of everybody’s opinion. Go talk to real people about this technology and you will find it is not black and white, and a lot of them would otherwise be on your side.

This is the same mistake the mainstream made when they lost their mystique, started talking down to their audience, and treated any disagreement as hostility. If you want this technology to be understood as something other than a threat, you are not helping yourself by acting like a jerk about it.

So my suggestion is to dial it back just a little bit. Be a little more considerate. Just be careful is all I am saying.