So, Elon Musk might be stepping down as Twitter CEO. I mean, let’s be clear. As the sole owner of Twitter, it could mean nothing at all. It could be a publicity stunt. And almost certainly any CEO chosen by Elon Musk – and they WOULD be chosen by Elon Musk, exclusively – would be absolutely beholden to Elon Musk. Further, mistakes that “Twitter” made going forward could be blamed on the non-Musk CEO, offering at least partial cover for his painfully stupid decisions.
All posts by Kit
Artists Get What They Want, Good and Hard
You can’t put the genie back in the bottle, no matter what you do. There were warnings about the harm mechanization can do to industries, but artists figured, oh, not us. We’re different. Our work encapsulates the soul of humanity, and therefore, we can’t be replaced! Most artists – in all fields – were absolutely silent when mechanization and computerization devastated blacksmiths, glassblowers, woodworkers, and so many others whose styles and skills were plundered by industrialization for the profit of large corporations. They were also silent when AIs were being crafted for other fields that were about to face the chopping block of computerization. Truck drivers and cashiers weren’t artists, what they did wasn’t like art, despite the absolute centrality of those jobs for human civilization to continue to exist. No one eats without truck drivers handling cargo and cashiers selling it to you, not until they are replaced by machines.
Alan Moore is Kinna a Whiner About His Fans and Art
After reading that bit about Adobe using AI art tools, I read an interview in GQ with Alan Moore. Reading it didn’t spoil my appreciation of Moore’s work, but, man, he’s a selfish little asshole.
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Adobe MAX Jumps Into AI-Generated Art… and the Game is Up
Adobe will include a bunch of AI art tools in the Adobe MAX suite of tools. This isn’t a surprise because it is evident that a lot of visual arts are going to be AI moving forward. In announcing this, Adobe spent a lot of time saying that these tools would not replace artists.
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The End of History Has More Than One Meaning
Francis Fukuyama, a Hegelian philosopher and political scientist, wrote an article that appeared in The Atlantic, “More Proof That This is Really the End of History.” He said that the current regime of strongmen in places like Russia and China again demonstrates that liberal democracies are the only serious game in town.
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Thoughts on AI Generated Art
I have started to use AI art generators for characters and covers. I’m going to talk about my take on the legal, ethical, and use of the generators.
Why I’m Moving to Denmark
What I learned from All Gas No Brakes
Thoughts on the future of trumpism
I woke up today and saw the news, and it was suddenly… sane.
I am no great fan of Democratic politics. As I’m a leftist, I hadn’t seen a distinct difference between the two parties. I often have characterized Democratic politics as a “cooling off” for Republican policies – a part of the country’s rightward shift. Republicans will do something (say, start to bomb other countries with drones willy-nilly), and Democrats will freak out… but Democratic administrations will use the powers instituted by the Republicans. At that point, the Democrats shut up about it. Pretty much everything in the war on terror – drone assassinations, torture, secret and illegal detention, etc. – are now part of US politics.
Trump made me modify my view. Previously, I had considered the Republicans more doctrinarian and disciplined about their doctrine. While I found their doctrine odious, there was consistency for it. What Trump did – and this might be his lasting contribution to the Republican Party and conservatives, in general – is fracture that consistency.
Conspiracies, fundamentalism, and why we’re not done with Trumpism
Donald Trump is my brainworm. I can’t think past or around him. So, as writers do, I am writing about what I can write about.
The reason Donald Trump is so goddamn popular with so many people is that many millions of Americans have accepted conspiracy theories as real. Here and now, I’m going to argue that one of the most significant reasons that’s true is America’s relationship to religion, specifically Christianity.
Continue reading Conspiracies, fundamentalism, and why we’re not done with Trumpism