[aaviator42]

I really miss the time before generative images and video were a thing. We opened such a can of worms. Really seems like a "the scientists were so occupied with if they could they didn't stop to think if they should" situation. What is the actual utility of these tools again beyond putting artists out of work?

[Waterluvian]

I’m old enough to remember when video killed the radio star.

[SchemaLoad]

The scientists were absolutely occupied with if we should. But the CEOs steamrolled them and had it built anyway.

[currymj]

from an information theory perspective, predicting and efficiently representing data is so closely tied to generation that it is unavoidable.

if you want to use ML to do anything at all with image and video, you will usually wind up creating the capability to generate image and video one way or another.

however building a polished consumer product is a choice, and probably a mistake. every technology has good and bad uses, but there seem to be few and trivial good uses for image/video generation, with many severe bad uses.

[deadbabe]

Every generation has their “I miss the time before ‘thing I don’t like’ became a thing”.

In our case, it’s just generative AI.

[mopenstein]

I miss the time before everybody was on the Internet when it was mostly like minded techie types. This modem internet kinda sucks with all its AI generated racism.

[bashinator]

Has every generation also seen the rise of massively-multiuser automated personalized propaganda engines?

[deadbabe]

TV was one hell of a propaganda engine.

[bashinator]

Not personalized. Imagine TV that can be exactly tuned to every individual viewers' taste.

[HaZeust]

was?

[thefz]

It cannot compete with millions of people glued to their pocket device for hours every day, in which they can see only what is not challenging - or reinforcing - their world view

[mslansn]

I’ve seen lots of them which I found very very amusing. That seems good enough for me. Think about it: there are channels on YouTube and on the telly that are there just to amuse you. So a system that creates amusing videos is a net positive for the world.