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This week on “Does that make me a hypocrite?”
A few weeks ago, a Sony video leaked out showing one of it’s characters being interacted with and speaking with the power of AI. I’d post the video but it seems pretty difficult to find, here’s coverage about it via The Verge. Since I saw that news, the topic has been on my mind. Is there something inherently wrong with using AI?
These big companies are doing cool things with technology. Let’s take...um...Sony for example. They are using AI to make the cars you race against in Gran Turismo more compelling and challenging. That is sick! But at the same time, they are showing off the main character of one of their franchise leading titles being voiced by AI. If this were an up and coming game developer who can’t afford a full fledge professional voice actor, I can understand that. But Sony is a, checks notes, $154 BILLION dollar company. Who benefits in that situation?
Obviously Sony! Games aren’t cheap to make, especially at Sony’s level. So any cost cutting would be welcomed. But again, $154 billion company. This news wasn’t really welcomed with open arms. It prompted the actual voice actress of Aloy to talk about it:
@ashly.burch let us speak on AI aloy
♬ original sound - Ashly Burch
Which brings me to my original question...
Am I a hypocrite?
Now that I think about it, don’t answer that reader. The truth hurts. But seriously, I’ve been wrestling with this for the past few weeks. I took a six month bootcamp to learn how to make websites. I’m actually almost done making my Lattepunk website! But the whole time I did my bootcamp and when I was making my website, I used AI. It’s a useful tool. And that’s how these companies are touting it. Yet, we’re supposed to be shunning people for use it to replace humans. The online forums I lurk in, terms like “slop coder” or “vibe kiddies” are used to describe people like me. People who don’t know how to “code” without AI. But if I can get the AI to make what I want, am I not coding? WIRED surveyed 730 coders. Results are as mixed as I feel.
If someone was never going to hire an artist, a coder, a whatever, but they go ahead and use ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini instead, did they do something wrong? Are they killing industries that they never intended to support anyway? Overall I see the argument, but at the individual level, I can’t see it. Someone who wasn’t ever going to hire a human isn’t replacing them with AI.
Now I don’t know what that makes me, but I know who is a hypocrite! The companies making these AIs. Anthropic make an AI called Claude (for what it’s worth, it’s my preferred AI when I code). They are one of the companies talking about how AI is going to free us from the shackles of society norms and give humans freedoms beyond the nine to five grind. They’re usually hiring for people to help them with that absurd mission. But when you apply, make sure you don’t use AI. I mean, your job is going to make AI replace humans, but please don’t use said AI on them!
It’s not just them, Google, Amazon, Meta, they all feel the same way. Those major tech jobs like to test their interviewees by doing what’s called Leetcode. They are essentially problem solving tasks used to see a persons problem solving skills using complex code examples. They type of code examples that AI could solve. And...someone did just that. And of course, the tech companies aren’t happy with it. Hypocrites?
Ghibli style
So why am I writing about this today? This internal debate I’ve been having was reignited last week. OpenAI released their latest image generator and it’s pretty impressive. ArsTechnica has a good breakdown of it. The internet has ran with it and everyone has been making Studio Ghibli versions of themselves. Which is sick! If I had access to it, I’d probably make one myself. Would I hire an artist to do it? I don’t even want to pay OpenAI to be able to do it. Hence I don’t have one. But a thing! The CEO of OpenAI changed his profile picture to ride the trend.
Should you care about any of that? No. You have real concerns to think about reader. I get it. So why am I thinking about it? Cause 8 years ago, Hayao Miyazaki (creator of Studio Ghibli), was shown AI and what it could do.
I’m torn on how to feel about this. But I think I’m more torn by you thinking I’m a hypocrite. That hurts reader...
things i read
The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram | A.C. Thompson and James Bandler for ProPublica
Facial Recognition Company Clearview Attempted to Buy Social Security Numbers and Mugshots for its Database | Freddy Martinez for 404 Media
Inside Google’s Two-Year Frenzy to Catch Up With OpenAI | Paresh Dave Arielle Pardes for WIRED
Behind the Success of Bluey’s World: How Puppy Became $2B Juggernaut | Leena Tailor for The Hollywood Reporter
How Scammers Launder Money and Get Away With It | Selam Gebrekidan and Joy Dong for NY Times
A “Goofy” DJ’s Secret Life at the Center of an Online Terrorism Network | James Bandler, A.C. Thompson, and Max Maldonado for ProPublica
A.I. Saved His Life by Discovering New Uses for Old Drugs | Kate Morgan for NY Times
I Went Undercover in Crypto’s Answer to ‘Squid Game.’ It Nearly Broke Me | Joel Khalili for WIRED
Want to feel like a spy? Stick a smart chip in your manicure | Victoria Song for The Verge
Google Is Searching for an Answer to ChatGPT | Julia Love, Davey Alba for Bloomberg
If Anthropic Succeeds, a Nation of Benevolent AI Geniuses Could Be Born | Steven Levy for WIRED
The Global Hunt for Putin’s ‘Sleeper Agents’ | Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson for WSJ
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