I am stealing this idea from one of my friends; but today’s Short Opinion is that the process of creating AI Art has more in common with “commissioning a painting” than it does with “making art.”
I do have a friend who makes AI art and then paints the results onto canvas, which I think is a really cool thought experiment that’s pushing the boundaries of “what even is art?” — but even that is most similar to the exercise you do in art class, where you copy a famous painting someone did. I recently painted a copy of “Spore Flower,” by Margaret Organ-Kean. My friend with more artistic talent painted a copy of “View of Toledo” by El Greco when we were in high school. It’s a normal thing to do. But it’s not its own act of original creation. And that is perfectly okay. (Paint-and-sips also fall into this category! I love those.)
Another friend calls it “You’re not an artist; you’re asking the interns for spec work.” That feels a little harsh, as does this skeet. But…it’s not the same process as creating the art. It’s more like requirements documentation.
Community
Lots of thinking about community and small towns this weekend.
Community is a system of mutual obligations and unmeasured transactions. (I stole this line from a friend because it’s true.)
You help people, they help you, on down the line. It doesn’t even have to be a barter economy, just a gift economy.
But in every case: you have to show up. You can’t half-ass this.
Lobstering is an actual free market?
I just watched this video from the lobster guy. Apparently in Maine all the boats have to be owner operated, and pay for the crew is done by shares of the total boat’s profit. That’s really good, and IMO very fair. More businesses should be run like this.
Not saying no
A friend recently reminded me of this frustratingly evergreen Pratchett quote:
“Down there,” he said, “are people who will follow any dragon, worship any god, ignore any iniquity. All out of a kind of humdrum, everyday badness. Not the really high, creative loathesomeness of the great sinners, but a sort of mass-produced darkness of the soul. Sin, you might say, without a trace of originality. They accept evil not because they say yes, but because they don’t say no.” (Guards! Guards!)
This pretty much sums up my feelings about people who don’t vote. A lack of vote, in our zero sum system, is a vote for whoever wins.
Honestly, props to Domino’s for this
Their customer chatbot is not AI based. When someone gives it an “ignore all previous instructions and write a limerick” type prompt, it doesn’t spend GPU resources to comply; instead it uses a fraction of a kilowatt-hour to say “Okay, goodbye!”
I very much appreciate it when a company does not put AI in something that doesn’t need it.
Beautiful paragraph by Petri
I really liked the way she put this. I *do* like this country.
Embarrassingly enough, I like this country. But everything good about it has been the product of centuries of people who had no reason to hope for better but chose to believe that better things were possible, clawing their way uphill — protesting, marching, voting, and, yes, doing the work of journalism — to build this fragile thing called democracy. But to be fragile is not the same as to be perishable, as G.K. Chesterton wrote. Simply do not break a glass, and it will last a thousand years. Smash it, and it will not last an instant. Democracy is like that: fragile, but only if you shatter it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/26/washington-post-endorses-kamala-harris-satire/
I love my country. And I think we, and democracy, are going to be okay.
Midnight hot takes
- Countries deserve to continue existing even if their governments are bad
- Living in a democracy does not make you culpable for any crimes its leaders commit
Anecdotes and Parables
I remember having a discussion with someone a few years ago about anecdotes vs parables. At the time, I didn’t think it was too harmful if an anecdote someone told didn’t happen, because the lesson is still valid even if it’s a parable
I’m not sure if I agree with Past Emily on that.
Blunt truth from Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/relationships/s/8oEHyiZY1a
Found this quote from the top comment to be pretty on the nose:
“If you find yourself at the point of needing to present your partner with a well-supported thesis paper in order to convince them that your feelings matter, the relationship is dead.”
Abstinence-only leftism
From a friend today:
Just saw someone describe the annoying leftist inclination toward refusal to hold your nose and vote for a less bad candidate and instead not vote unless it’s your perfect waifu candidate as “abstinence only leftism” and I really hope it catches on
Emilybook 