I posted an article on Medium about Sora, the new text-to-video AI tool from OpenAI, yesterday (sketchnote below). I also posted the sketchnote on Instagram. For the most part, people have responded favorably to the post, but one “person” tried to spam a response on Instagram, saying, “I had to stop AI.” Of course, this account was a spam account (aka troll account) that was trying to push some website, which I did not visit. Maybe they think I’m an AI champion.
To quote the singer Billy Joel:
You may be right,
I may be crazy,
Hey, but It just may be a lunatic you're looking for,
Turn out the light,
Oh, don't try to save me,
You may be wrong for all I know,
You may be right.
- Billy Joel - You May Be Right
The Impact of AI
Just to clear things up, I’m not necessarily a fan of AI, but I’m also not going to dismiss it. AI companies appear to be dead set on replacing every creative job on the planet with AI. Like many of us, I had always hoped that robots and AI would free us of monotonous tasks and work so that we could pursue creative pursuits, but alas, that appears not to be the case. My job as an illustrator and my main income source as a Lead UX/UI Designer are being impacted at this very moment. I have had almost no billable hours this year so far as companies race forward using these new AI tools.
An Angry Mob
Clearly, I could curse AI. I could grab a pitchfork and assemble a mob of torch-bearing anti-AI townsfolk to storm the proverbial AI base/Frankenstein castle. There have been many inventions and technological developments in the course of my life that have shaken up the status quo, and AI is a new one.
What is this?
Curiosity. I can refuse to learn about AI and not pay attention to what is coming, or I can be curious. Besides loving to draw, I have been curious all my life about learning new things with technology, and gadgets being my top curiosities. My mother says that while learning to talk, my favorite phrase was “What is this?” "What is this?” is a powerful and empowering way to be curious. It is a curiosity that reserves judgment for later as you learn about the topic or thing. Once you learn about it, you can make a judgment on how the knowledge resonates with you or how you may be impacted.
All that to say, I’m learning about AI to be better informed. It is also clear to see that AI will not simply go away. By learning what it is, I can adapt and make decisions about the ethical uses of the tools and ways to empower myself and other creatives. If nothing else, maybe my sketchnotes will help others be informed.
Want to Learn More About AI?
If you are curious about AI, like I am, here are a few books about AI and robots that I recommend. Two are science fiction books, but they think through rules for robots to interact with humans and whether robots or AI should have empathy.
I Robot by Isaac Asimov and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.
The next book is highly recommended and is up next in my audiobook playlist. The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian (2020) is recommended by The New York Times. The book delves into the problem of determining how to “align” machine behavior with human values.
You can try all of these books as audiobooks with a free trial of Audible.
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