DEPRESSING AND ALARMING
I’m not saying that generative artificial intelligence cannot be used to make art. If someone takes the time and care to refine the detail of every image, using generative commands with the level of finesse with which you might use a paintbrush or mouse cursor, then that can become a form of art – albeit one that sounds like pure hell to produce.
But producing something that has as much in common with Miyazaki’s artistry as I do with Will Smith is not art, and it is depressing and alarming that so many people think it is.
It’s depressing because someone who looks at a knockoff and doesn’t appreciate the beauty of the real thing is not enjoying life to its fullest extent. If you think you like Studio Ghibli but you are letting the quality of the art pass you by, you are denying yourself the full pleasure of the company’s work.
It is alarming because the most exciting uses of AI in the workplace and in public policy involve turning tasks that take many hours into ones that require much less time to execute, though still involve important judgments.
Such advances have the potential to significantly increase productivity and prosperity. They are particularly significant for the state. In education, for example, replacing marking and administration, a huge drain on the most important and valuable resource in a classroom – the time and energy of the teacher – is one area that the British government is looking at.
And in healthcare, a Palantir trial has already freed up hours of clinical time by transforming tasks that took doctors hours to complete into comparatively brief ones.
