personally i don't have a problem with the idea of AI image generation, I have a problem with companies taking artists' images without them opting in to it, then attempting to "replace" artists with an algorithm that's trained on stolen work. I also have a problem with the technology's environmental impacts. i think this is a common sentiment.

edit: on further analysis, i'm around 70% sure this is AI-generated, due to the TVs looking the same while having a different art style, and due to the strange facial expression in the 2nd panel. also, in the 2nd panel, it would make more sense artistically for the character to be lying down while thinking that, showing that it can look the same on the outside.

[–] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I see nothing unethical about using AI, as long as you're not making something that will put an artist out of work. But memes are completely ethical. You're not going to hire an artist to create such a thing.

[–] callyral@pawb.social 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

AI is created unethically, therefore choosing to use it while knowing how it is made and while knowing its environmental impacts is also unethical. You can choose to use AI, but you can't deny that its use is unethical.

[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Then how about instead of crying "slop" whenever you catch a whiff of AI, you instead start calling for the creation of ethical generators? Ones that are trained on ethically sourced training materials?

AI is never going away. That is a fact. It's too lucrative to just abandon. So rather than waste time and effort trying in vain to get rid of it, work to change it for the better.

[–] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I absolutely can deny that it's unethical. In fact, you could argue that using an LLM for memes is not only morally neutral, but actually morally positive.

First, environmental concerns. Is there any evidence that it takes more energy to quickly generate a meme image than to draw it on a computer? That seems highly unlikely. You would have to power a computer for hours to produce such a drawing by hand. It almost certainly takes a tiny fraction of the energy to generate an image via an LLM than it would to generate it via computer drawing software. And even hand-drawing doesn't escape this, as all the supplies you need also have high energy input requirements.

As to your other general ethics point, that's superstitious mumbo jumbo. You're arguing that an LLM is magically cursed because of how it was created. A tool can be created ethically or unethically, but something being created unethically doesn't magically make its use unethical. The only potential issue is that if you're funding the creation of the tool or giving the toolmaker money, you can provide a greater market for the creation of more unethical tools.

If anything, using the LLMs of the big AI companies to make memes is an absolute moral good. No one is going to pay OpenAI to make memes. Meme images cost the AI companies money to make but don't provide them any revenue at all.

Every meme image made by AI is a small blow against these companies. It costs them money but generates them no revenue. But because apparently AI is magically cursed with evil, any use of it must also be evil.

This is religious thinking, not rational thinking.

[–] callyral@pawb.social 3 points 2 days ago

First, environmental concerns. Is there any evidence that it takes more energy to quickly generate a meme image than to draw it on a computer? That seems highly unlikely. You would have to power a computer for hours to produce such a drawing by hand.

It doesn't take hours to draw a meme image. Spending a few minutes using a meme template or drawing a quick meme will most certainly not use more energy than AI.

[...] but something being created unethically doesn’t magically make its use unethical.

Sounds like a philosophy problem to me. In my opinion, the use of something created unethically being unethical is a truth that we must accept, even if it's hard to do so.

This is religious thinking, not rational thinking.

No, we just think differently.

Every meme image made by AI is a small blow against these companies. It costs them money but generates them no revenue. But because apparently AI is magically cursed with evil, any use of it must also be evil.

If nobody used AI image generation, these companies would not even exist, it would be the ultimate blow. So, logically, more people using their AI helps these companies long-term.