Robots vs. Lawyers

Where AI differs is its interaction with data and rights. Unlike coding assistants trained on open-source software, most commercial image generation tools are trained on copyrighted work. It’s a non-consensual, extractive practice in an already-precarious industry. It’s always hard to put the tech genie back in the box, but I think this is a case w... See more

The robot was quite good at copying my style, but much less good at writing anything meaningful. It could predict which words I would be most likely to use but it couldn’t make an original argument for me. Using the robot made me think a lot about the nature of writing and what goes in to its peculiar form of labor. AI tools fundamentally promise t... See more

A problem in any discussion of “AI” is that the uses are so varied that it is never clear what anyone is talking about. Using AI to spellcheck is different than using it to generate the entire work, with a whole range in-between. At what point does it go from a tool that assists an artist to the thing producing the art? There will not be a clean li... See more