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The internet is a beautiful beach covered in trash made by computers
Dear Casper,
Preface: To be clear, I don’t hate AI, it is a tool. I hate that AI prompts are being passed off as legitimate art and I hate dishonesty. And I especially hate AI music mixes.
The idea isn’t novel. Generative AI has become a phenomenon whether we like it or not. From images, to videos, to music, it feels like we cannot escape this new wave of AI “content.” In a world where people make money from content on social media, “AI Slop” as it has become known, is all too common. AI is becoming much better at creating faces, making it harder to differentiate between who is real and who isn’t. These music mixes are all roughly the same length and are full of music that no one created.
Those that use generative AI services are calling themselves artists — that is blatantly false. An important distinction needs to be made. There are those that outright shun the use of AI at all. There are also those that solely use AI to create “content.”
I think the real answer is a fine line somewhere down the middle. But if you “create” something by simply typing a prompt into a text field and hitting enter, that is not the same as taking the time to learn a skill and using that skill to create. Using generative AI to create is like eating at McDonalds. It is quick, convenient, and easy while at the same time being wasteful, cheap and lazy.
AI can be useful. It can be great for brainstorming an idea, visualizing an outcome and maybe even helping with research if you are willing to fact check its sources. And some real artists use AI for these things. That’s fine. But people who crank out an endless stream of AI garbage to slather all over social media? What are they contributing to? It’s flooding our timelines with AI cats eating cereal, political conspiracy theories, and engagement baiting posts about sad, old, nonexistent veterans on their “bitdays.”
AI has its place, but that place isn’t for the entirety of the content we consume. Art has been made for centuries by people who simply wanted to create. Don’t take up that screen time by some text prompt you had a computer turn into an image or video, and please stop flooding Youtube with AI mixtapes. For all of human history art has asked the questions “Who are we?” and “What do we want?” Art challenges the way we see the world and ourselves. Art is a form of communication, one that is distinctly human.
To quote the photographer Pam Holland, art speaks where words are unable to explain. In times like these, we need more art to bring us together not tear us apart.
Zachary Nagy
Casper
Increased speed limit is dangerous
Dear Casper,
Speed limit change by some brain dead city bureaucrat from 30 to 40. Is this some kind of way to curb population growth?
William Oleson
Casper
A renter’s dilemma
Dear Casper,
With all the changes with housing and rental guidelines, something I never thought about until recently — ran a background check on the property owners I give money. Wow, should have done that a long time ago.
Bill Scott Hopbell
Casper
Wyoming delegation needs to resign
Dear Casper,
During the government shutdown, Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman get paid.
Active duty military men and women do not get paid.
Barrasso, Lummis and Hageman caused the shutdown. They did not pass the 12 appropriations bills on time.
Barrasso, Lummis and Hageman failed to fulfill a primary duty of their office. This requirement is written in the U.S. Constitution.
Barrasso, Lummis and Hageman, having not fulfilled their oaths of office, should resign their offices immediately — before drawing one more paycheck.
At every local photo op, Barrasso, Lummis and Hageman should be asked why they failed. They should not be let off the hook until they resign. No other questions — only ask them, repeatedly, about their failure to pass the appropriations bills.
Ken Lantta
Casper