MORE CONCERNED RATHER THAN EXCITED ABOUT AI
Apple ended up running an ad that, for want of a better word, was triggering. Over the course of Apple’s lifetime, the sentiment toward technology has changed profoundly. We’re now more sceptical about the longer-term harms to our well-being or the effects of tech-enabled political division.
The breakthrough moment of ChatGPT in 2022 supercharged our fears. For the first time, we were having serious discussions about what it might mean when a computer has broad abilities to surpass even the brightest humans. Staring at countless unanswered questions, there seemed only one sure bet: The growing power of the unstoppable tech giants.
Apple is spending massively on artificial intelligence initiatives and has started trumpeting its products as being best-in-class for AI. We’ll hear more about the company’s AI work next month at its annual developers’ conference, where the company will be under pressure to show it hasn’t fallen behind Microsoft Corp. and others.
In these early stages, the creative arts have felt more vulnerable than most. More than half of American adults have concerns about the effects of AI on music, according to a recent YouGov poll, with the primary concerns being a lack of originality and impact on the livelihoods of human musicians. Just more than one in 10 adults (11 per cent) said they would support AI artists.
Meanwhile, OpenAI and other AI creators are being taken to court over their brazen collection of work that does not belong to them and using it to train AI. Overall, a separate Pew study suggests, more Americans are concerned rather than excited by AI.
It’s staggering that Apple has been unable to read this room. I doubt the company intended it this way – I’ve approached them for comment. A spokesperson will no doubt say the iPad is a friend to creatives, lowering the barrier to recording music or producing art.
This is true, of course, but it’s the bigger picture we’re talking about here. If Apple wants to sell to creatives, it needs to show it understands them. As a metaphor, the crushing machine is a publicity disaster.
