The Authenticity of Social Media

For many people, AI is simply a humorous tool to use when bored. However, AI has already affected certain peoples lives for the worst. 

In some unlucky cases, people are placing young women, occasionally, adolescent children, into explicit videos without their consent with the help of AI. 

One case being with a social media influencer who goes by the name Sweet Anita. She is a youtuber and v-tuber who had her face deepfaked onto an explicit video. 

Which means that thousands of people were under the impression that she had created such content. 

When in reality, she had no interest in that industry. 

Unfortunately, the evolution of AI is affecting her career. 

“My safety, my day to day life, my whole career- uhm, has been completely turned upside down and probably irreparably changed by this.” 

Stated by her in a youtube video addressing the situation. 

She stresses that AI has gone to new heights and so has the consequences of using such AI with malicious intentions. 

Artists

There are three different groups of people when talking about AI in the art community.

One, being completely against AI.

This is all due to how the programming in AI works to create images, artwork, and literature. 

AI takes data, and work from authors, artists, comedians, and more, to formulate the most accurate and desired end result to its user. 

Which is concerning to some people due to how they believe that this is stealing their hard work without their consent, and selling it to users all around the world. 

In fact, certain artists have found their signature designs and quirks that they include in their own art, in an AI generated image which supports their theory that the technology is using their art without their prior knowledge. 

Many have created a dislike for the technology due to its functionality of creating without consent and taking job opportunities away from human artists. 

Which is further stated by a student artist at Tahoma High School, “I do think it does more harm than good because it’s been taking away jobs from people, like people who actually have a passion for what they do.”

The employment rate for artists is already at 1.6 percent, meaning that if AI was to change that percentage that could cause an exponential decrease in working artists. 

Additionally, AI has already become a large fear in the literature industry as well.

Becoming one of the smaller reasons why writers began the writers strike in the first place.

However, on the other hand, some people argue that AI could lead to more job opportunities for artists and authors in the future.

They had stated that surely, AI would be a problem in the starting stages of its release to the public, nonetheless they also believe that due to AI, human artists will gain more value. 

Their reasoning behind this is that certain groups of people would prefer art made by humans rather than AI, causing more artists to go into the working field and open more job opportunities overall. 

In order to keep up with AI, all they would need to do is continue to do what humanity has always done.

Adapt. 

Requiring artists and authors alike, to create time lapses or additionally show their progress alongside their final product.

AI cannot create art in steps, the technology only knows how to give a final product, meaning, by showing their progress artists and authors are easily able to prove their authenticity.

Lastly, there are the people who believe that others can use AI, but in moderation.

This means for small comedic skits, to have a small laugh, or to just have fun during boring days.

Also noting that people should give the programmers the credit for the hard work that they have put into making such an advanced form of technology.  

They believe that AI could potentially be a good tool for certain tasks as well.

Meaning, in their point of view eradicating AI is not a wise decision, however, it is also something that should not consume everything in everyday life. 

History of AI, Technology, and Authors

Technology has always been a force that made leaps of change though. An example being, the take down of local newspapers. 

While technology began surfacing in public, newspapers and magazines quickly went into a decline.

 With the ability to search through thousands upon thousands of stories instead of the restricted page space of what is on the local newspaper. 

In the time frame of the revolutionary wide web, many newspaper companies scrambled to keep up with the loss of readers. 

Although, what saved them, was to adapt, supporting the notion that the AI technology plaguing artists and authors minds could be a helpful tool that they should embrace instead of push away. 

Even though newspaper revenue  went down by 30 percent, the newspapers that continued to thrive were the ones that moved along with society, making modifications where they were needed. 

Leading back to the present day, where technology is continuing to progress our daily life, and job opportunities to new levels. 

New, not necessarily good or bad.