I guess part of growing older is feeling more out of touch with modern developments, but I have also heard younger people say that they find certain aspects of artificial intelligence really scary.
ChatGPT can:
- pass the bar exam
- write a perfect dissertation
- apply for jobs more effectively than humans
- endlessly create polymorphic malware
- chat on dating apps. Imagine thinking you are talking to a real person but it is actually AI…
- write in a way that makes phishing attemps more plausible
- use a great deal of personal data without consent
Previously, I have said that jobs like mine – teaching/translation/editing – would not be affected by the digital transformation because language is organicl and – for teaching anyway – you need to analyse body language and have eye contact. Nowadays though, I believe that with a good avatar and AI, teachers will become obsolete.
There are now digital modelling agencies, where you can hire digital models. Shudu, below, comes from The Digitals.
Many brands have digital brand ambassadors to represent them in the metaverse, and some online shops use digital models to advertise clothing in their online shops. This is good in a way, because perhaps you would be able to customise ‘your’ model to look like you in terms of skintone, proportions etc. But it could also create unrealistic body ideals.
Here are Levi’s digital models
When it comes to digital art, I love it. Having worked in IT many years ago, I know only too well how you have to think really hard in order to have the computer create the result exactly as you want it. It makes you learn a lot about yourself and how to ‘talk’ to the computer. Some digital creations are my favourite art pieces ever. However, so many people don’t seem to know when something is digital or not. The below image went viral recently, being reported as a new type of cat. Of course it wasn’t. But people just blindly shared it. Perhaps in future it could be made compulsory to mark all digitally created and retouched imagery as such.
Ultimately, when I do feel worried about the implications of AI moving beyond human control, I think of the Spinning Jenny. When it appeared on the scene, the Luddites destroyed it and other machines which they felt were taking their jobs away and destroying the world as they knew it. The Luddites wanted Parliament to ban these machines. We all know how that ended.
Do you think that ultimately we will live alone in our physical spaces, existing purely in the Metaverse with our digital art, fashion, friendships and love?
AI does some amazing things, and yes, the digital models available at the moment are all perfectly proportioned. I really hope AI can give us more freedom to be ourselves, have more leisure time and not be misused so that when we meet our ideal partner on a dating site we discover after six months that they are merely a digital creation.
I, too, have concerns over where we’re heading. But then I think about the fact that people still spin yarn by hand, knit by hand, write with lovely fountain pens on paper, read printed books. Vinyl and cassette are more viable media options today than they were a few years ago. It’s easy to get tired of the virtual realm. AI may be able to learn many things, but only true intelligence can enjoy a good bath then curl up on the settee with a new recording of Rachmaninov on the record player, a cup of tea, and a doughnut.