No Face in the Real World
This past week was a rough one, so I apologize for the late newsletter. I’ll be out of the country over the coming days as well, which means that you can look for the next update around April 10th.
Hey Boss! It’s Me! I’m Hungry!
As you may have discerned, I have a LOT of feelings about AI. While I believe it has some valid applications, I strongly disapprove of its use for creating images or writing copy. When people use AI for this purpose, it is legitimately stealing from the artists and writers who created the content in the first place. And the data centers required to run AI have devastating impacts on the environment.
While I was already convinced of the harmful potential of AI, we now have a nasty use case that proves the point. A recent ChatGPT update allows users to create images in the style of Studio Ghibli, one of the most creative and visionary animation studios in the world. This gross misappropriation of content and art explicitly goes against the wishes of Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder and honorary chairman of Ghibli.
I invoked No Face as the subject line for this email as the character is an apt metaphor for AI and the harm it causes. As he is described in the Ghibi Fandom Wiki, “he is shown to be capable of reacting to emotions and ingesting other individuals in order to gain their personality and physical traits.”
Again, as I state on the description/subscribe page of this newsletter, you must define your own Rubicon, but if I can encourage you to take one thing from Donut Bee Evil, it’s that AI should not be used for such corrupt purposes.
Next Up, AI Clones You
23andMe, the company that helps you map your family tree and personalizes health data, filed for bankruptcy. The DNA data they have collected may be up for sale. If you used them for family tree purposes or shared any DNA data with them, now is the time to delete that information. This explainer can help you do it immediately and fairly easily.
Let’s do everything we can to keep 2025 from being a collective gut punch. Here’s one small way you can help… donate to Ms. Valdez as she works to teach acceptance and kindness to her class of 25 students as she embraces diversity and inclusion.
Until next week,
Kim