Artificial Intelligence seems to be all that we talk about lately. From Charlie Brooker’s new Black Mirror episode ‘Joan is Awful', to the Writer’s Guild of America strikes, medical advancements and deep fakes, AI is beginning to become an integral part of our lives.
Programmes such as DALL-E, MidJourney and ChatGPT are becoming more widely accessible. Anybody that is curious about these applications can purchase a membership and use them for whatever purpose. This mini-series will discuss one of these programmes in depth: ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is a writing tool produced by OpenAI, a leading research organisation in the field of artificial intelligence. It is able to produce prose, articles, essays, or simply plan your 21st birthday party. Their latest update is ChatGPT- 4, described by Unite AI as “the most advanced and powerful AI yet.” According to its creators, ChatGPT is able to replicate a human-like response because, “it takes vast amounts of data from the internet written by humans, including conversations.”
However the software is not perfect as it can contain bias and has often produced incorrect information. Universities are worried as students may start to use AI in their work, which can result in undetectable plagiarism.
Reports on exploitation have also come to the surface, where it has been revealed that workers in Kenya earned under $2 per hour to remove some of the internet’s most harmful content from ChatGPT. Employees were subject to disturbing graphic imagery and texts with limited workplace support. Using the platform therefore comes with many ethical questions.
Other issues regarding AI are centered around copyright infringement. Some of these artificial intelligence tools have been built upon the work of other artists without their consent. This has resulted in three artists – Sarah Anderson, Kelly Mckernan and Karla Ortiz – attempting to sue Stability AI, MidJourney and Deviant Art. For now, there is no definitive law in place to say if AI generated images are fair use or not, and it is a waiting game for those artists who continue to have their work stolen and regenerated without agreeing to it.
In addition, creatives are unnerved at how fast corporations are implementing artificial intelligence without providing any reassurance that workers rights will be protected. Despite the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike being a disruptive force on the TV and film industry, studios are still advertising for AI specialists. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Netflix, Disney and Sony are offering huge salaries for these particular roles, whilst underpaying the writers and actors who are responsible for record profits and success, as well as ensuring that the streaming services continue to function.
In order to explore these topics in more depth, this article is the first of a five-part series on artificial intelligence and the creative industry, focusing specifically on the younger generation of creatives. Rather than repeating what we already know, I wanted to explore how young artists feel about these developments, and if they feel like AI is a threat to their pursuits. One interviewee, Kieran Barber (Backstreets), believes that not only will AI take creative jobs that are typically freelance and more tedious tasks, but it will deter people from trying to enter the creative industry in the first place.
Whether you are trying to pursue a career in their artistic field, or if you create purely for enjoyment purposes, your opinions are invaluable and you deserve to be heard.
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